5.  2.6.  ro. 


^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    by  c3v-^c>\<sr\oV~^.  c>\va\d\d  £/\\ 


BV  4! 

501 

.P68 

1856 

] 

Porter, 

Stephen,  . 

1781- 

-1868. 

A  daily 

walk 

with 

God 

in 

hi 

own 

ordinances 

DAILY  WALK  WITH  GOD 

IN  HIS  OWN  ORDINANCES, 
OR  THE 

BIBLE  STANDAED  OF  DUTY, 

As  Exemplified  in  the  Primitive  Cliristians. 
AN   ESSAY, 
By  rev.  STEPHEN  P0RTEIk;rr|5^  ^  ^"^''^ri^ 

GEWA,N.T.        (^     MAR  26  1910      > 


"  Even  from  the  days  of  your  fathers  ye  have  gone  away  from  mina 
ordinances,  and  have  not  kept  tbem.  Rrtturu  unto  me,  und  I  will 
return  unto  you,  suith  the  Lord  of  hosls  " — Malacki. 

"  Now  I  praise  you  brethren  that  you  keep  the  ordiaances  as  I 
delivered  tiiem  toyou." — Paul. 


ROCHESTER: 
E.  DARROVV  &  BROTHER.    PUBLISHERS, 

C5    MAi:«    STHEKT. 

1856. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  Iho  year  1856, 
By  EEV.  STEPHEN  PORTER, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Northern  District 
of  New  York. 


PIU>TED    BY  LEE,   MANX   i   CO.,   ROCHESTER. 

STEREOTYPED   BY  J.   W.   BROWW, 
KOCHESTER,   K.  Y. 


DEDICATED 

TO 

CHRISTIAN  MINISTERS, 
aud 

"their  fellow  laborers  in  the  gospel  of  CHRIST  ;" 

60LICITIXG  THEIR  EARNEST  AND  PRAYERFUL 

CO-OPEEATIOX  TO  RESTORE  THE 

BIBLE    STANDARD    OF   DUTY, 

AS  EXEMPLIFIED  IX  THE  PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANS, 
AyO  THUS   SECURE 

THE    PROMISED    BLESSING 

OF  A  CONTINUED  REVIVAL  IN  THE  CHURCH, 

AND  THE 

SPEEDY     TRIUMPH 

OF  THE 

redeemer's     KINGDOM. 


INTRODUCTION, 


The  scheme  of  man's  redemption  originated 
in  the  infinite  wisdom  and  love  of  God.  Its 
execution  involved  the  amazing  sacrifice  of 
Calvary.  That  sacrifice,  in  due  time,  was 
freely  offered — all  the  needful  means  provided ; 
and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  mightiest  agent  in  the 
universe,  sent  down  to  render  those  me-ans 
efficient  in  the  great  work  of  human  salvation. 

And  while  this  work  is  going  on,  God  has 
revealed  it  as  his  fixed  purpose,  that  whoso- 
ever would  share  in  it,  and  thus  be  saved  from 
the  degradation  and  ruin  of  sin,  restored  to 
favor  and  communion  with  God,  transformed 
into  his  holy  image  and  fitted  for  heaven,  must 
consent  to  "  he  led  hy  the  spirit ;  and  have  his 
mind  turned  from  the  ohjects  of  sense  and  the 
vanities  of  earth,  to  the  soul  stirring  ohjects 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  Christian  faith.  And  that  these  objects 
may  exert  their  appropriate  influence  on  the 
heart,  and  thus  control  the  Hfe,  they  must  he 
kept  before  the  mind.  This  is  done  under  the 
Spirit's  influence,  by  an  earnest  waiting  upon 
God  in  the  ordinances  of  his  own  appointment 
— thus  co-operating  with  the  Spirit  in  the 
work  of  our  own  salvation  and  that  of  others.* 
"  If  ye  live  after  the  flesh,  (says  an  Apostle,) 
ye  shall  die.  But  if  ye  through  the  Spirit,  do 
mortify  the  deeds  of  the  body,  ye  shall  live. 
For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
they  are  the  sons  of  God,  and  have  received 
the  Spirit  of  adoption,  whereby  w^e  cry,  Abba 
Father." 

•  Thus  brought  into  communion  with  God 
the  Father,  through  faith  in  his  dear  Son,and  the 
indwelling  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  we  are  to  take 
up  the  cross  daily,  and  follow  Christ  in  his 
self-denying  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  perish- 
ing men ;  and  "  whatever  we  do  in  word  or 
deed,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
giving  thanks  to  God,  even  the  Father,  by 
him."  Thus  our  religion,  like  the  Bible,  is  full 
of  Christ.     We  associate  him  with  every  duty, 


INTRODUCTION.  VII 

every  blessing,  and  every  hope.  In  Christ 
crucified  for  our  sins,  we  gain  the  most  rm- 
pressive  views  of  the  infinite  evil  and  demerit 
of  sin,  combined  with  his  amazing  love  to  us 
sinners.  It  is  this  which  melts  the  heart  in 
penitence,  and  inspires  love  to  Christ,  and 
zeal  for  his  glory.  And  it  is  only  by  keeping 
the  eye  of  our  faith  habitually  fixed  on  a  cru- 
cified Saviour,  that  our  penitence,  love  and 
zeal  can  be  perpetuated. 

Hence,  if  we  neglect  to  walk  with  God  in 
the  ordinances  of  his  appointment,  and  suffer 
the  cares,  or  business  or  pleasures  of  earth  to 
engross  the  mind  and  interrupt  our  commu- 
nion with  Christ,  our  zeal  soon  languishes — 
love  grows  cold — the  Spirit  is  grieved — dark- 
ness shrouds  the  soul,  and  hope  is  ready  to 
expire.  No  child  of  God  can  rest  at  ease  in 
such  a  state.  He  will  cry  to  the  Lord  for 
help,  aftd  find  the  promise  fulfilled  :  "  Ye  shall 
seek  me  and^n^  me,  when  ye  shall  search  for 
me  with  all  your  heart."  (Jer.  29  :  13.)  This 
implies  a  penitent  return  to  the  path  of  duty  : 
co-operating  with  the  Spirit  in  the  work  for 
which  his  presence  is  sought. 


VllI  INTRODUCTION. 

Thus  the  solemn  truth  is  practically  demon- 
strated, that  to  raise  fallen  men  into  commu- 
nion with  the  blessed  God,  and  transform  them 
into  the  image  of  his  dear  Son,  requires,  on 
their  part  an  earnest  and  persevering  effort  in 
the  use  of  the  metins  of  divine  appointment. 
This  truth,  w^hich  men  have  been  slow  to  learn 
and  prone  to  forget,  was  proclaimed  and  urged 
by  the  Saviour  when  he  said  :  ''The  kingdom  of 
heaven  svjfereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take 
it  by  force."  "Agonize  to  enter  in  at  the 
straight  gate."  And  having  entered,  by  yield- 
ing to  the  Spirit's  influence,  "Run  the  chris- 
tian race."  "  Give  all  diligence  to  make  your 
calling  and  election  sure.  Press  toward  the 
mark."  "  Contend  earnestly  for  the  faiih  once 
delivered  to  the  saints" — the  faith  that  works  by 
love,  and  purifies  the  heart  and  overcomes  the 
world.  "  For  we  wrestle,  not  against  flesh  and 
blood  :  but  against  principalities — against  pow- 
ers— against  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world — against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places." 

This  struggle  can  never  prove  successful, 
with  six  days  devoted  to  the  sensual  and 
earthly,   and   but   one    to    the    spiritual   and 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

heavenly.  To  hope  for  it  is  presumption.  All 
the  lessons  of  Scripture  and  reason,  and  the 
experience  of  ages  combine  to  teach  that 
worldly -mindedness  and  spiritual  slumber  are 
always  prominent  characteristics  of  the  Church 
when  her  members  are  so  great  a  portion  of 
the  time  drawn  away  from  communion  with 
Christ  and  each  other,  to  mingle  with  the  world 
in  its  strife  of  business  or  politics,  or  its  hot 
pursuit  of  wealth  or  pleasure.  By  engrossing 
so  much  of  the  time  and  thoughts  and  feelings 
and  activities  of  christians,  the  world  enstamps 
its  own  image  upon  them,  and  thus  paralizes 
their  influence  for  saving  good  to  souls.  Hence 
the  Sabbath  exercises  alone — powerful  as  they 
are  for  good  when  rightly  improved — have 
never  kept  the  Church  awake  and  active,  grow- 
ing in  grace  and  gathering  the  spiritual  harvest. 
And  alone,  they  were  never  designed  to  do  it. 
But  from  its  appointment,  many  seem  to  infer 
that,  since  the  fall,  God  has  doomed  man  to  toil 
six  parts  out  of  seven  of  his  whole  time,  for 
his  daily  bread  ;  or  for  those  things  which 
"  perish  with  the  using."  But  is  it  so  ?  Even 
under  the  administration  of  him  who  died  for 


X  INTRODUCTION. 

our  redemption,  are  we  required  to  put  forth 
six  times  as  much  effort  for  the  frail  dying 
body,  as  for  the  immortal  soul  and  its  vast  in- 
terests for  eternity  ? 

What  are  the  teachings  of  Scripture  on  this 
subject  ? 

And  what  was  the  practice  of  the  Primitive 
Christians  ? 


CHAPTER  I. 

OLD    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

THE  early  converts  to  Christianity  were 
Jews  ;  educated  under  the  Mosaic  dispensa- 
tion, which  was  preparatory  to  the  Christian. 
And  in  opening  the  Old  Testament,  we  find 
that  God,  by  express  enactments,  had  released 
the  Jewish  Church  from  toil  for  the  body  about 
one-half  of  the  time ;  that  they  might  wait  on 
him  without  distraction,  in  the  ordinances  of 
his  own  appointment  for  the  salvation  of  the 
soul. 

This  will  appear,  if  we  consider  that,  in 
addition  to  the  weekly  Sabbath,  given  tD  man 
in  Paradise,  God  ordained, 

1.  The  daily  service,  styled  the  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice. — Ex.  29  :  38-46. 

"  Now  this  is  that  which  thou  shalt  offer  upon 
the  altar  ;  two  lambs,  day  by  day,  continually ; 
the  one  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  in  the  morning, 


12  OLD  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS. 

and  the  other  lamb  thou  shalt  offer  at  even  ; 
with  his  meat  offering  and  liis  drink  offering. 
This  shall  be  a  continual  burnt  offering 
throughout  your  generations,  at  the  door  of 
the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  before  the 
Lord,  where  I  will  meet  you  to  speak  there 
unto  thee.  And  there  I  will  meet  with  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  the  Tabernacle  shall 
be  sanctified  by  my  glory.  And  I  will  dwell 
among  the  children  of  Israel  and  will  be  their 
God." 

This  sacrifice  typified  the  Lamb  of  God, 
slain  to  take  away  sin.  While  burning  on  the 
altar,  it  was  the  hour  of  prayer ;  not  only  at 
the  temple,  where  a  multitude  daily  assembled, 
but  all  over  the  land,  and  wherever  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  were  scattered  abroad.  They 
worshiped  with  their  faces  toward  the  altar 
and  the  manifested  glory  of  God  in  the 
Temple. 

But  how  could  the  whole  nation  be  aided  in 
their  daily  devotions  by  this  sacrifice  at  the 
temple,  when  only  a  small  part  of  them  could 
be  present  to  witness  it  ?  It  was  indeed  an 
impressive  type  of  the  death  of  Christ  to  those 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS.  13 

who  were  present ;  but  not  so  to  the  absent,  if 
they  had  never  seen  it.  To  obviate  this  diffi- 
culty, as  far  as  practicable,  God  ordained, 

2,  The  three  annual  festivals, — Ex.  23: 
14-17.  Nehemiah,  chapt.  1,  "  Three  times  a 
year  thou  shalt  keep  a  feast  unto  me — all  thy 
males  shall  appear  before  the  Lord  thy  God." 
There,  for  eight  days  in  succession,  they  were 
called  to  unite  in  exercises  of  religious  wor- 
ship and  instruction.  Thus  all  were  kept 
familiar  with  the  temple  service,  so  that  when 
absent  they  could  fix  the  eye  of  their  mind  on 
God's  altar,  and  thus  be  aided  in  their  daily 
devotions. 

3.  The  Sabbatical  year;  or  one  year  in 
seven,  as  a  rest  from  servile  labor. — Lev.  25 : 
3-5.  "  Six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  field  and 
prune  thy  vineyard,  and  gather  in  the  fruit 
thereof.  But  in  the  seventh  year  shall  be  a 
Sabbath  of  rest  unto  the  land.  Thou  shalt 
neither  sow  thy  field,  nor  prune  thy  vineyard. 
That  which  groweth  of  its  own  accord  thou 
shalt  not  reap,  nor  gather  the  fruit  of  thy  vine 
undressed ;  for  it  is  a  year  of  rest  unto  the 
land." 


14  OLD   TESTAMENT   PEACfllNGS. 

4.  The  Jubilee,  or  fiftieth  year,  which  brought 
them  two  years  of  rest  in  succession. — Lev. 
25 :  8-13.  "  Thou  shalt  number  seven  Sab- 
baths of  years  unto  thee — forty-nine  years  : 
then  ■  thou  shalt  cause  the  trumpet  of  the 
jubilee  to  sound ;  and  ye  shall  hallow  the  fif- 
tieth year,  and  proclaim  liberty  throughout  all 
the  land  to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof;  a 
jubilee  shall  that  fiftieth  year  be  unto  you.  Ye 
shall  not  sow,  nor  reap  that  which  groweth  of 
itself ;  nor  gather  the  grapes  of  it  of  thy  vine 
undressed.     It  shall  be  holy  unto  you." 

Add  these  several  items  together — the  daily 
sacrifice,  morning  and  evening — the  weekly 
Sabbath — the  three  annual  festivals — the  sab- 
batical year  and  the  jubilee — and  they  amount 
10  about  one-half  of  their  whole  time. 

Thus  released  from  care  and  toil  for  the 
body,  they  had  abundant  time  to  cultivate  the 
spirit  of  devotion,  by  waiting  on  God  in  the 
ordinances  of  his  own  appointment  for  the 
salvation  of  the  soul.  And  even  while  toiling 
for  the  body,  one-half  of  the  avails  of  their 
labor  was  devoted  to  purposes  of  devotion 
and  charity ;  and  thus  made  to  subserve  the 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS.  15 

best  interests  of  the  soul.  For  God  required 
them  to  give  of  their  annual  income,  one-tenth 
to  the  Levites,  who  ministered  at  the  altar — 
Numb.  18:  20,  21  ;  and  another  tenth  for  the 
three  annual  festivals  at  the  temple — Deut.  14  : 
22-26 ;  and  "  at  the  end  of  every  third  year," 
another  tenth,  to  be  laid  up  in  store  "for  the 
Levite,  the  stranger,  the  fartherless  and  the 
widow,  that  they  might  come  and  eat  and  be 
satisfied."— Dwe^.  14  :  28-29. 

In  addition  to  these  three  tithes,  various 
offerings  were  required,  some  fixed  by  law  and 
others  voluntary,  amounting  in  all,  to  about 
one-half  of  their  income.  And  lest  they  should 
be  anxious  for  the  body,  while  thus  concerned 
for  the  soul,  God  promised  them  his  special 
care  and  protection.  Lev.  2^:  18-22. — "Ye 
shall  keep  my  judgments  and  do  them,  and  ye 
shall  dwell  in  the  land  in  safety.  And  the 
land  shall  yield  her  fruit,  and  ye  shall  eat  your 
fill.  If  ye  shall  say :  "  What  shall  we  eat  the 
seventh  year  ?  Behold,  we  shall  not  sow  nor 
gather  in  our  increase  !"  then  will  I  command 
my  blessing  upon  you  the  sixth  year,  and  it 
shall  bring  forth  fruit  for  three  years ;  and  ye 


16  OLD  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS. 

shall  sow  the  eighth  year,  and  eat  yet  of  the 
old  store  until  the  ninth  year ;  until  the  fruit 
be  come  in  ye  shall  eat  of  the  old  store."  In 
the  next  chapter  God  renews  and  amplifies  his 
promise,  on  condition  of  their  obedience.  "  If 
ye  shall  walk  in  my  statutes  and  keep  my 
judgments  and  do  them,then  I  will  give  you  rain 
in  due  season,  and  the  land  shall  yield  her  in- 
crease, and  the  trees  of  the  field  shall  yield 
their  fruit.  And  your  threshing  shall  reach 
unto  the  vintage,  and  the  vintage  shall  reach 
unto  the  sowing  time ;  and  ye  shall  eat  your 
bread  to  the  full,  and  dwell  in  your  land  safely, 
and  none  shall  make  you  afraid ;  and  I  will 
w^alk  among  you,  and  will  be  your  God  and  ye 
shall  be  my  people." 

Thus  God  promised  them  his  constant  pre- 
sence and  blessing.  Released,  as  they  were, 
one-half  of  the  time  from  care  and  toil  for  the 
body,  to  attend  to  the  more  important  concerns 
of  the  soul ;  and  one-half  of  their  income  de- 
voted to  the  same  object ;  still  he  assured  them 
of  an  abundant  supply  of  their  temporal  wants  ; 
provided  they  would  walk  with  him  In  his  or- 
dinances and  be   obedient.     But  should  they 


OLD  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS.  17 

refuse,  he  threatened  them  with  terrible  judg- 
ments, (Lev.  26:  14-46.)  In  reviewing  their 
history,  we  find  these  promises  and  threaten- 
ings  literally  fulfilled.  Obedient — they  were 
blessed ;  rebellious — they  were  cursed.  This 
is  true  of  their  whole  history,  even  to  the  pre- 
sent day. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NEW  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS. 

nERE  the  scen-e  opens  with  the  mission  of 
John  the  Baptist,  as  the  herald  of  the  Son 
of  God.  His  ministry  was  short;  but  his 
preaching  was  powerful,  and  the  nation  was 
moved !  No  man  could  have  instructed  and 
baptized  such  vast  multitudes  as  he  did  without 
laboring  daily.— 3ia^  3  :  5,  6. 

But  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist  is  here ! 
His  example  is  worthy  of  imitation.  Mark 
his  footsteps,  as  he  went  about  doing  good  ; 
and  you  often  find  him  preaching  daily,  and  to 
vast  congregations,  as  well  as  to  families  and 
individuals.  It  is  said,  "  There  followed  him 
great  multitudes  of  people  from  Galilee  and 
from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and  from 
Judea,  and  from  beyond  Jordan."  On  one 
occasion,  {Mat.  15,)  you  hear  him  say,  "  I  have 
compassion  on  the  multitude,  because   they 


NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS.  19 

continue  with  me  now  three  days  and  they 
have  nothing  to  eat.  And  I  will  not  send  them 
Qway  fasting  lest  they  faint  in  the  way," 
Here  four  thousand  men,  besides  women  and 
children,  w^ere  fed  by  miracle.  Thus  he  en- 
couraged dying  sinners  to  wait  upon  him  in 
his  daily  ministrations.  Other  like  instances 
are  on  record.  Luke  19  :  47,  48,  it  is  said, 
''  He  taught  daily  in  the  temple — for  all  the 
people  were  very  attentive  to  hear  him." 
Three  times  a  year  we  find  him  uniformly  at 
the  temple,  working  miracles  of  mercy,  and 
teaching  the  congregated  thousands  there. 
Hence  his  rebuke  to  those  who  went  to  appre- 
hend him  in  the  garden. — "  Are  ye  come  out 
as  against  a  thief,  with  swords  and  staves  to 
take  me  ?  I  sat  daily  with  you  in  the  temple 
teaching,  and  ye  laid  no  hold  on  me." 

That  daily  convocations  for  religious  wor- 
ship and  instruction  are  sanctioned  by  the 
example  of  Christ,  there  can  be  no  question. 
But  was  his  example  followed  by  the  apostles 
and  primitive  christians  ?  It  was ;  and  the 
proof  is  abundant.  But  since  the  papal  apos- 
tacy,  it  has  lamentably  failed  to  arrest  the  at- 
tention, and  control  the  practice  of  the  church. 


20  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

Let  US  then  briefly  survey  the  proof,  as 
drawn  first  from  the  inspired  records,  and  then 
from  well  authenticated  history  of  the  primi- 
tive Church. 

Their  commission  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature  was  given  with  the  promise, 
"  Ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
not  many  days  hence."  With  this  commission 
and  promise,  (it  is  said,)  "  They  returned  to 
Jerusalem  and  went  up  into  an  upper  room — 
the  number  of  the  names  was  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty.  These  all  continued  with  one  ac- 
cord in  prayer  and  supplication."  For  ten 
days  they  sought  the  promised  blessing.  It 
was  then  conferred.  "  They  were  all  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with 
other  tongues  as  the  spirit  gave  them  utter- 
ance." Their  word  was  with  power.  "  And 
the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls."  The  next  day, 
it  is  said,  "  Many  who  heard  the  word  believed, 
and  the  number  of  the  men  was  about  five 
thousand."  "And  all  that  believed  were  to- 
gether and  had  all  things  common." 

Loving  Christ  supremely,  and  each  other  as 


NEW     TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS.  21 

themselves,  they  were  thus  incorporated  un- 
der the  law  ot  Christ — the  great  law  of  love — 
into  one  household,  with  him  as  their  Head. 
Those  who  had  this  world's  goods  in  possession 
devoted  their  property,  as  well  as  themselves, 
to  the  Lord ;  and  thus  became  stewards  in  the 
household  of  faith.  As  such,  they  imparted 
their  income,  and  even  their  capital  when 
needed,  to  supply  the  daily  wants  of  the  house- 
hold, and  advance  the  cause  of  their  Lord  and 
Master.  This  was  simply  carrying  out  in  prac- 
tice the  doctrine  of  Stewardship,  which  Christ 
taught  his  disciples,  when  he  said,  "  Who  then 
is  that  faithful  and  wise  servant  whom  his  Lord 
shall  make  ruler  over  his  household,  to  give 
them  meat  in  due  season  ?  Blessed  is  that 
servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall 
find  so  doing.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  he  shall 
make  him  ruler  over  all  his  goods" — a  joint 
heir  with  himself  to  all  the  treasures  of  the 
universe. 

With  such  a  reward  in  view,  and  with  the 
daily  experience  that,  "  it  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  receive,"  what  loving  disciple  of 
Jesus,  having  this  world's  goods  in  posession, 


22  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

could  refuse  to  consecrate  them  all  to  the  cause 
of  such  a  Master ;  and  thus  become  a  steward 
in  his  household  ?  Could  he  see  a  brother  or 
sister  naked  and  destitute  of  daily  food,  and  re- 
fuse them  the  needful  supplies  ?  Could  he  claim 
or  use  the  goods  entrusted  to  him  as  his  own — 
squandering  them  in  useless  expenditure  upon 
his  lusts — or  hoarding  both  capital  and  income, 
to  gratify,  and  thus  increase  a  sordid  love  of 
gain  ?  No  whole-hearted  disciple  of  Christ 
could  ever  do  this.  It  would  sink  his  character 
in  deep  disgrace,  and  his  soul  in  utter  ruin. 
"  For  the  Lord  of  that  servant  will  come,  (says 
Christ,)  in  a  day  when  he  looketh  not  for  him, 
and  will  cut  him  asunder,  and  appoint  him  his 
portion  with  hypocrites  ;  there  shall  be  weep- 
ing and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

And  were  there  any  such  who  gained  a 
standing  in  the  Primitive  Church  ?  We  read 
of  one  man  and  his  wife  who  attempted  it ; 
claiming  to  have  devoted  themselves  and  their 
all  to  the  service  of  Christ,  while  they  "  kept 
back  part  of  the  price,  and  lied  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.'*  But  when  convicted  of  their  guilt, 
they  were  so  overwhelmed  with  its  enormity, 


NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS.  23 

that  they  sank  in  the  agonies  of  death,  and 
"gave  up  the  Ghost."  And  great  fear  came 
upon  all  the  Church,  and  upon  as  many  as 
heard  these  things.  And  they  were  all,  with 
one  accord  in  Solomon's  porch.  And  of  the 
rest  durst  no  man  join  himself  to  them ;  (i.  e. 
without  devoting  himself  and  his  all  to  Christ.) 
But  the  people  magnified  them.  And  believers 
were  the  more  added  to  the  Lord ;  multitudes, 
both  men  and  women." 

Thus  the  principle  of  stewardship,  in  regard 
to  earthly  possessions,  was  cordially  believed 
and  firmly  established  in  the  Church  of  Christ. 
And  hence  it  is  said,  "  The  multitude  of  them 
that  believed  were  of  one  heart  and  one  soul, 
neither  said  any  of  them  that  aught  of  the 
things  which  he  possessed  was  his  own  ;  but 
they  had  all  thivgs  common.  Neither  was 
there  any  among  them  that  lacked ;  for  as 
many  as  were  possessors  of  lands  or  houses, 
sold  them,"  (when  the  income  was  insufficient 
and  funds  were  needed  ;)  and  distribution  was 
made  unto  every  man,  according  as  he  had 
need." 

Thus  Christ,  as  predicted  by  the  prophet, 


24  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

(Malachi  3  :  2,)  was  "like  a  refiner's  fire,  and 
like  fuller's  soap,"  purifying  his  Church  from 
the  dross  of  selfishness,  and  presenting  it  to  the 
world  as  one  family,  united  in  loving  him  su- 
premely and  each  other  as  themselves ;  and 
having  their  temporal  wants  daily  supplied 
from  a  common  fund,  committed  inlrust  to  his 
stewards.  Of  this  fund  Christ  was  acknow- 
ledged as  the  owner,  and  his  stewards  the  dis- 
pensers to  "  every  man  as  he  had  need." 

This  ordinance  of  the  Christian  Church  con- 
stituted her  richest  ornament,  and  the  chief 
element  of  her  moral  power,  to  draw  her  own 
members  together,  and  cement  them  in  one 
common  brotherhood ;  and  to  attract  and  win 
sinners  to  Christ,  and  multiply  the  trophies  of 
his  grace. 

We  cease  to  wonder,  therefore,  as  we  pro- 
ceed with  the  inspired  record,  "  That  they 
who  gladly  received  the  word  and  were  bap- 
tized, continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostle's 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  breaking  of 
bread  and  in  prayers:  and  daily  with  one  accord 
in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  from  house 
to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with  gladness  and 


NEW  TESTAMENT  TEACHINGS.  25 

singleness  of  heart,  praising  God  and  having 
favor  with  all  the  people" — (the  multitude  ex- 
claiming, "  Behold  how  they  love  one  another!") 
"And  the  Lord  added  to  the  church,  daily, 
such  as  should  be  saved.  And  daily  in  the  tem- 
ple and  in  every  house  they  ceased  not  to  teach 
and  preach  Jesus  Christ."  "  And  the  word  of 
God  increased,  and  the  number  of  the  disci- 
ples multiplied  in  Jerusalem  greatly  and  a 
great  nmnber  of  the  priests  were  obedient  to 
the  faith."  This  so  enraged  the  rulers  who 
had  crucified  Jesus  as  a  malefactor,  that  they 
unsheathed  the  sword  of  persecution,  makmg 
such  havoc  of  the  church,  that  "  they  were  all 
scattered  abroad  except  the  apostles." 

But  it  is  said,  "  They  went  everywhere 
preaching  the  word."  Thus  the  gospel  was 
more  widely  and  rapidly  diffused,  and  prevailed 
with  increasing  power,  confounding  its  enemies, 
or  converting  them  to  friends  ;  until,  in  view  of 
the  vast  multitudes  'of  Jewish  converts,  the 
elders  assembled  at  Jerusalem  were  led  to  ex- 
claim :  "  How  many  thousands,  (or  as  in  the 
original,  tens  of  thousands.)  of  Jews  there  are 
which  believe !" 


26  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

Saul,  of  Tarsus,  when  converted,  drank  into 
the  same  spirit,  and  spread  it  far  and  wide  over 
the  Gentile  world.  When  at  Athens,  it  is  said 
(Acts  17  :  17,)  "  His  spirit  was  stirred  within 
him,  when  he  saw  the  city  wholly  given  to 
idolatry.  Therefore,  disputed  he  in  the  syna- 
gogue and  in  the  market  daily  with  them  that 
met  with  him."  Thus,  he  had  at  Athens  two 
places  of  preaching  Christ  daily. 

When  at  Ephesus,  it  is  said,  "  He  went  into 
the  synagogue  and  spake  boldly  for  the  space 
of  three  months ;  disputing  and  persuading  the 
t-bmgs  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God."  And 
when  opposition  arose,  he  left  the  synagogue, 
meeting  daily  in  the  school-roo^p  of  one  Ty- 
rannus.  And  this  continuea  tor  the  space  ot 
two  years ;  "  so  that  all  they  which  dwelled 
in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both 
Jews  and  Greeks.  And  many  that  believed 
came  and  confessed  and  shewed  their  deeds. 
Many  also  of  them  that  used  curious  arts, 
brought  their  books  together  and  burned  them 
before  all  men  ;  and  they  counted  the  price  oi 
them,  and  found  it  fifty  thousand  pieces  of 
silver.      So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God 


NEW     TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS.  27 

and  prevailed,"  that  within  less  than  thirty- 
years,  Paul  could  say  to  the  Collosians,  "  It 
brinsreth  forth  fruit  in  all  the  world ;"  and  to 
the  Romans,  "  Your  faith  is  spoken  of  through- 
out the  whole  world." 

For  the  first  eight  years,  until  Peter  was 
sent  to  the  house  of  Cornelius,  all  the  converts 
to  Christianity  were  Jews.  As  such  they  had 
been  bro-ught  up  under  a  dispensation  which 
released  them  from  toil  for  the  body,  to  attend 
to  the  more  important  concerns  of  the  soul, 
one-half  of  the  time ;  and  one-half  of  their  in- 
come devoted  to  the  same  object,  with  the 
promise  of  an  abundant  supply  of  their  tem- 
poral wants.  When  they  enlisted  into  the 
service  of  Christ,  they  expected  the  same  pri- 
vileges:  Acts  21:  20.  And  in  the  light  of 
New  Testament  history,  we  see  them  actually 
emploved  in  his  service,  using  their  property 
in  common,  as  his  stewards  for  the  relief  of  the 
poor,  daily  waiting  upon  him  in  his  ordinances, 
both  publicly  and  from  house  to  house :  and 
the  Lord  working  with  them  and  adding  to  the 
church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved." 

In  thus  following  the  example  of  Christ,  did 


28  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

the  Primitive  Christians  ohey  his  instruction 
also  ?  What  is  the  teaching  of  Christ  on  this 
subject  ?  Does  it  sanction  the  general  practice 
of  christians  now,  who  toil  six  days  in  the  week 
almost  exclusively  for  the  body  and  a  treasure 
on  earth  ;  and  leave  but  little  more  than  one 
for  the  soul  and  a  treasure  in  heaven  ?  We 
hear  him  say,  "  Labor  not  foi  the  meat  whicli 
perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life."  {John  6  :  27)  This 
surely  requires  that  we  make  the  soul  the  chief 
concern,  and  its  preparation  for  heaven  the 
great  business  of  life.  And  thus  he  explains  it 
in  his  sermon  on  the  mount.  "  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  but  treasures 
in  heaven.  If  thine  eye  be  single,  (fixed  on 
one  object — the  heavenly  treasure,)  thy  whole 
body  shall  be  full  of  light,  (shining  in  the  Sa- 
viour's image,  to  illumine  the  path  of  dying 
men  to  heaven.)  But  if  thine  eye  be  evil,  (cra- 
ving earthly  treasure,  while  professing  to  seek 
the  heavenly,)  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of 
darkness.  And  how  great  is  that  darkness  ! 
(the  cheerless  vale  of  earthliness,  doubt  and 
fear ;  endincr  in  the  blackness  of  darkness  for- 


NEW     TESTAMENT     TEACHINGS.  29 

ever.)  Hence  he  adds,  with  solemn  emphasis 
— No  man  can  serve  two  masters — Ye  cannot 
serve  God  and  Mammon.  Therefore,  I  say 
unto  you,  take  no  thought  for  your  hie,  what 
ye  shall  eat,  nor  yet  for  your  body  what  ye 
shall  put  on.  Behold  the  fowls — your  heaven- 
ly father  feedeth  them.  Consider  the  lilies — 
even  Solomon,  in  all  his  glor}^  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these.  And  shall  not  your  heaven- 
ly Father  much  more  feed  and  cloth  you  ?  O, 
ye  of  little  faith  !  Therefore  take  no  thought, 
saying,  what  shall  we  eat,  or  wherewithal  shall 
we  be  clothed  ?  (For  after  these  things  do  the 
Gentiles  seek  ;)  for  your  heavenly  father  know- 
eth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these  things.  But 
seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righ- 
teousness, and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you." 

In  view  of  these  plam  instructions  of  the 
Saviour,  who  can  believe  that  the  people  of 
God  now,  are  less  favored  in  regard  to  the 
amount  of  toil  for  the  body,  than  under  the 
Jewish  dispensation  ?  Is  not  the  promise  of 
temporal  support  made  to  God's  ancient  peo- 
ple, expressly  renewed  by  Christ  to  the  gospel 
chm'ch  ?     The  Jews,  while  released  from  toil 


30  NEW    TESTAMENT    TEACHINGS. 

for  the  body  one-half  of  the  time,  and  required 
to  consecrate  one-half  of  the  avails  of  their 
labor  to  purposes  of  devotion  and  charity  ;  were 
yet  assured  of  an  abundant  supply  of  their 
temporal  wants ;  provided  they  would  walk 
with  God  in  his  own  ordinances  for  their  eter- 
nal salvation.  And  bhnst  assures  us  that  our 
heavenly  Father,  who  feeds  the  ravens  and 
clothes  the  lilies,  will  much  more  feed  and 
clothe  his  own  children,  while  they  toil  in  obe- 
dience to  him  ;  not  so  much  for  earthly  as  for 
heavenly  treasure.  Hence,  he  closes  this  part 
of  his  subject  with  a  command  and  a  promise  ; 
"  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  ad- 
ded unto  you." 

Thus,  it  appears  from  the  New  Testament, 
with  the  clearest  evidence,  that  the  daily  use 
of  the  means  of  divine  appointment  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  both  publicly  and  from  house 
to  house,  was  sanctioned  by  the  example  and 
teaching  of  Christ,  and  introduced  by  his  apos- 
tles, under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
into  the  christian  dispensation.  "  Daily  in  the 
temple  and  in  every  house,  they  ceased  not  to 
teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ." 


CHAPTER  III. 

HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE. 

FROM  well  authenticated  history  we  are 
furnished  with  abundant  proof, 

That  the  daily  service,  introduced  by  the 
apostles  was  continued  in  the  Christian  Church. 

That  it  was  generally  attended  by  pro- 
fessing christians,  for  more  than  three  hun- 
dred years. 

That  while  thus  attended,  it  was  blessed  as 
the  means  of  perpetuating  the  revival,  which 
commenced  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

That  the  neglect  of  this  daily  service  marks 
\\\ei  decline  of  piety  in  the  church,  and  the 
commencement  of  that  ''falling  away,"  pre- 
dicted by  Paul,  which  introduced  the  Papal 
apostacy. 


32  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 


SECTION  I. 

The  daily  service,  introduced  hy  the  inspired  apos- 
tles was  continued  in  the  Christian  Churchy 

Dr.  Lardner,  in  his  ecclesiastical  history- 
says:  "  At  first,  the  churches  assembled  emry 
day;  and  traces  of  this  are  found  in  later 
times,  in  the  daily  assembling  of  the  churches 
to  hear  the  scriptures  read  and  for  celebrating 
the  communion." 

Joseph  Bingham,  in  his  "  Antiquities  of  the 
Christian  Church,  says  :  "  The  most  noted  and 
usual  times  of  meeting,  besides  the  Lord's  day, 
were  the  morning  and  evening  of  every  day  ; 
which,  in  times  of  peace,  were  constantly  and 
regularly  observed.*  Again,  he  says,  "  The 
evening  and  morning  are  the  most  celebrated 
times  of  the  ancient  daily  service ;  and  are  to 
be  found  in  almost  every  ecclesiastical  writer.f 

From  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  we  find 
these  statements  abundantly  confirmed. 

In  the  Constitutions  of  the  Primitive  Church, 


•  Abridgement  by  Honrj,  p.  665. 
t  Bingham's  Works,  vol.  4,  p.  373. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  33 

Book  8,  chap.  35,.  the  order  of  exercises  in 
their  daily  service  is  ^escribed  ;  consisting  of 
"  alternate  singing  and  prayer — reading  and 
expounding  the  Scriptures — preaching  and 
communion  at  the  Lord's  table." 

Eurebius,  Bishop  of  Cessarea,  who  died  in 
338,  wrote  the  history  of  the  Church,  for  the 
first  300  years.  In  his  Evangelical  Demon- 
stration, he  says  expressly,  "  They  celebrated 
the  memorials  of  Christ's  body  and  blood  every 
day."— Book  1,  ch.  10.* 

Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  who  suffered 
martyrdom  in  258  says,  "  We  do,  every  day, 
receive  the  Eucharistical  elements  as  the  nou- 
rishment of  our  souls  unto  eternal  life."t  Again 
he  says,  "  We  celebrate  the  daily  sacrifice" — 
meaning  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  is  often 
called  by  the  ancients,  the  daily  sacrifice,  be- 
cause daily  celebrated  at  the  altar.J  Thus  in 
the  Christian  Church,  the  Lord's  Supper  took 
the  place  of  the  daily  sacrifice  in  the  Jewish. 
It  was  a  continuance  of  that  service  with  only 


*  Quoted  bj  Bingham,  vol.  5.  p.  367,  London,  Ed,  1045. 
t  Bingham  p.  852. 

X  Cyprian's  "Works,  part  1,  p.  145  ;  London  Ed.  1717. 
3 


34  HISTORICAL    EVIDENCE. 

a  change  in  its  form — the  daily  memorial  of 
Christ's  death,  instead  of  the  bleeding  lamb, 
which  had  been  the  daily  type  of  his  death. 

Jerome,  a  celebrated  Father  in  the  church, 
who  died  in  420  assures  us,  "  It  was  the  custom 
at  Rome  for  the  faithful  to  receive  the  body 
of  Christ  every  day."  Again  he  says,  "It  was 
the  custom,  not  only  at  Rome,  but  of  the 
Spanish  Church  Xocomm\m\c2iiQ  every  day."* 
Very  frequent  allusions  to  this  service  are 
found  in  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  both  as  a 
season  of  daily  communion  at  the  Lord's  table, 
and  also  of  daily  preachivg.  In  perusing  their 
numerous  volumes  of  sermons  that  have  come 
down  to  us,  we  find  frequent  mention  of  what 
they  had  preached  the  day  before  ;  and  of  their 
being  preached  successively,  one  day  after  an- 
other. "  This  (it  is  said)  was  their  constant 
and  ordinary  practice."  As  instances  in  proof 
of  this,  we  refer  to  the  sermons  of  prigjn  of 
third  century — of  Crysotom,  Jerome,  Gauden- 
tius,  St.  Ambrose  and  St.  Austin,  of  the  fourth 
century  ;  and  of  Theodoret   and  Caesarius  cf 


*  Jerome's  Epistles,  28  and  50,  quoted  by  Bingham,  p. 
852 ;  and  in  vol  5,  p.  364. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  35 

the  fifth  century  ;  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  they 
preached  almost  every  day,  and  frequently  at 
both  morning  and  evening  prayer.  Ana  Can- 
non 19th  of  the  Council  of  Trullo  was  msti- 
tuted  to  promote  this  practice."* 


SECTION  II. 

The  daily  service  was  generally  attended  by  prof €8- 

sing  christians,  for  more  than  three 

hundred  years. 

Justin  Martyr,  who  wrote  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century,  describes  the  sev- 
eral parts  of  this  service,  at  the  close  of  whicn 
he  says,  "  Then  the  consecrated  elements  are 
distributed  to  and  partaken  of,  by  all  that  are 
present,  and  sent  to  the  absent,  by  the  hands 
of  the  deacons."  Again,  he  says,  "  The  dea- 
cons distribute  to  every  one  present,  to  partake 
of  the  Eucharistical  bread  and  wine  ;  and 
then  convey  it  to  the  absent :"  thus  literally 
obeying   the   apostolical  injunction,  "Exhort 


BiDgham's  Abridgement,  p.  713-14. 


36  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE. 

one  another  daily,  lest  any  of  you  be  hardened 
throucijh  the  deceitfulness  of  sin."  To  neglect 
this  high  privilege  through  vi^orldliness,  or  care- 
less indifference  was  a  disciplinable  offence. 
And  in  the  council  of  Antioch,  held  in  341,  it 
v^as  adopted  as  a  rule  for  the  whole  church, 
that  "  all  such  as  neglect  the  holy  communion, 
after  the  first  and  second  administration  shall 
be  suspended  from  the  church,  till  they  mend 
their  ways  by  confession  and  repentance."* 

The  first  council  of  Toledo,  held  in  400, 
adopted  a  rule,  (see  chap.  5,)  "  That  if  any 
presbyter  or  deacon  should  be  in  any  city  or 
country  where  there  was  a  church,  and  did 
not  come  to  the  daily  sacrifice  or  service,  he 
should  no  longer  be  reputed  as  one  of  the  sacred 
function."! 

The  council  of  Agde,  held  in  506,  orders 
such  to  be  reduced  to  the  communion  of  stran- 


*  Reeves'  Apol.  p.  119-126  ;  London  Ed.  1709.  Bing- 
ham, p.  854  and  887. 

+  "  Presbyter  Diaconas,  <fec,  qui  intra  civilatcm  fueiet,  vel 
in  loco  in  quo  ecclesia  est,  si  ecclesiam  ad  sacraficeum 
quotidianum,  non  vencrit,  clericus  non  habiatur." 

Bingham's  Works;  vol.  2,  p.  152. 


I 
HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE.  37 

gers ;  which  implies,  at  least,  suspension  from 
their  office.  And  the  code  of  Justinian  con- 
tains a  cannon  to  punish  them  with  degrada- 
tion, "because  of  the  scandal  they  give  to  the 
laity  by  such  neglect  of  divine  service."*  So 
careful  were  they  to  make  the  clergy  examples 
of  piety  to  the  people,  and  thus  guard  them 
against  neglecting  the  daily  service. 

In  accordance  with  these  rules,  no  one  could 
hold  his  standing  in  the  church,  without  a  reg- 
ular attendance  upon  its  stipulations  and  ordi- 
nances. And  their  strict  enforcement  secured 
a  regular  attendance  upon  the  daily  service, 
wherever  it  was  practicable. 

Tertullian  says,  (chap.  39,)  "  When  we  meet 
for  the  public  service  of  God,  we  come  together 
in  as  formidable  a  body,  as  if  we  were  to  storm 
heaven  by  force  of  prayer.  And  when  this 
holy  army  of  supplicants  are  met  in  goodly 
array,  we  send  up  our  united  prayers. "f  So 
deep  and  general  was  the  interest  in  these  de- 
votional exercises,  that  they  were  frequently 
prolonged  through  most  of  the  day,  as  seasons  ot 


*  BiDgham  ;  p.  212. 

tRceve's  Apol. ;  yoI.  1,  p.  330. 


38  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

special  thanksgiving,  or  of  prayer  and  fasting. 

The  Lord's  day  was  the  great  christian  fes- 
tival, universally  kept  in  joyful  remembrance 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  On  this  day 
they  rose  up  to  give  thanks  and  pray ;  while 
on  other  occasions  they  were  accustomed  to 
kneel.  Saturday  was  statedly  observed  as  a 
day  of  thanksgiving  in  the  eastern  portion  of 
the  church,  where  the  Jewish  custom  prevail- 
ed ;  but  in  the  w^estern,  it  was  kept  as  a  fast, 
in  remembrance  of  the  Saviour's  humiliation 
in  the  tomb.  But  the  whole  church  were 
united  in  keeping  Wednesday  and  Friday  of 
every  week,  as  stated  seasons  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  Tertullian  says,  "  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays  we  do  all  observe,  yet  not  in  obedience 
to  any  command  or  to  the  end  of  the  day ; 
but  prayers  are  concluded  at  the  ninth  hour, 
according  to  the  example  of  Peter  in  the  Acts. 
"  Paul  tells  us  that  be  was  '  in  fasting  often ;' " 
and  thus  it  was  with  the  Primitive  ('hurch.* 

From  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  it  would 


*  Eurebias,  Book  4,  cb.  15,  p.  135.  King's  Enquiry, 
part  2,  n.  p.  133  and  152 ;  London  Ed.,  1713.  Cave's 
Primitive  Christianity,  Part  1,  cb.  7. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  39 

be  easy  to  furnish  a  volume  of  testimony,  that 
the  daily  service,  ordained  of  God,  under  the 
Mosaic  dispensation,  and  introduced  by  the  in- 
spired Apostles  into  the  Christian  Church,  was 
not  only  continued,  but  also  fully  attended  by 
}  rofessing  christians,  until  the  "  falling  away" 
which  introduced  the  papal  apostacy ;  that  as 
the  death  of  Christ  was  prefigured  to  the  an-cient 
church,  by  their  daily  sacrifices  ;  so  it  was  com- 
memorated  by  the  christian  church  in  her  daily 
communion  at  the  Lord's  table.  And  this  daily 
service,  connected  as  it  was  with  frequent  rea- 
sons of  fasting  and  of  thanksgiving,  together 
with  their  closet  and  family  devotions,  and  their 
preaching  Christ  from  house  to  house,  must 
have  occupied  at  least  one-half  of  their  active 
hours  in  the  public  and  private  exercises  of  re- 
ligious worship  and  edification. 


40  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 


SECTION  III. 


While  christians  continued  thus  daily  to  wait  upon 

the  Lord  in  his  ordinances,  the  revival  continued 

which  was  commenced  on  the  day  of 

Pentecost. 

So  great  a  portion  of  time  as  they  devoted 
to  the  concerns  of  the  soul,  and  occupied  in 
self  denyinsr  effort  for  the  salvation  of  men, 
clearly  indicates  a  revival  state  in  the  church. 
And  this  is  confirmed, 

1.  By  the  manner  of  their  attendance  on 
these  religious  exercises.  A  holy  army  of 
suppliants  (says  Tertullian,)  met  in  goodly 
array,  and  in  as  formidable  a  body,  as  if  we 
were  to  storm  heaven  by  force  of  prayer."  And 
he  adds,  "  We  meet  also  for  the  reading  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  by  which  our  spiril^ual  life  is 
wonderfully  nourished,  and  our  faith  and  hope 
confirmed.  And,  besides  the  reading,  we  con- 
tinually preach  and  press  the  duties  of  the 
gospel,  with  all  the  power  and  argument  we 
are  able. 

Similar  testimony  of  other  writers  is  abun- 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  41 

dant  throughout  this  whole  period,  as  any  one 
may  see  by  consulting  Dr.  Cave,  on  Primitive 
Christianity  :  part  1,  chap.  9. 

Thus  the  daily  meetings  of  the  Primitive 
Church  were  not  cold  and  formal  and  thinly 
attended,  as  our  week-day  meetings  generally 
are  ;  but  as  strongly  marked  with  the  impress 
of  the  Spirit's  presence  and  power,  as  in  any 
of  our  most  favored  revivals  ;  when  christians 
love  to  meet  and  pray  together,  and  "  exhort 
one  another  dairy" — "  teaching  and  admonish- 
ing one  another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spir- 
itual songs,  singing  with  grace  in  their  hearts 
to  the  Lord." 

Nor  did  their  religion  expend  itself  in  mere 
feeling  or  animal  excitement ;  but  its  genu- 
ineness was  demonstrated, 

2.  In  its  abundant  fruits  of  benevolence  and 
active  charity  :  even  such  as  attended  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

Tertullian,  about  the  close  of  the  second 
century,  says,*  (ch.  39)  "  Our  brotherly  love 
continues,  even  to  the  division  of  our  estates ; 


Reeve's  Apol.  vol.  1.  p.  335-7,  London  Ed.  1709. 


42  HISTORICAL    EVIDENCE. 

which  is  a  test  few  brotherhoods  will  bear,  and 
which  commonly  divides  the  nearest  relations 
among  you.  But  we  Christians  look  upon  our- 
selves as  one  body,  animated  by  one  soul ;  and 
being  thus  incorporated  by  love,  we  can  never 
dispute  what  we  are  to  bestow  upon  our  own 
members.  Accordingly,  among  us,  all  things 
are  in  common,  excepting  wives."  Again  he 
says  (pages  366-7)  :  "  Is  it  any  great  wonder 
that  such  charitable  brethren  as  enjoy  all  things 
in  common,  should  have  such  frequent  love- 
feasts  ?  VVe  think  all  is  gain  that  is  laid  out 
in  doing  good.  When,  therefore,  we  are  at  the 
charge  of  an  entertainment,  it  is  to  refresh  the 
bowels  of  the  needy." 

Justin  Martyr,  about  the  middle  of  the 
second  century,  says,  "  We  who  formerly  val- 
ued our  money  and  estates  above  everything, 
do  now  put  them  into  a  common  stock  and 
distribute  to  those  that  are  in  need."*  This 
holding  "  all  things  in  common  "  was  simply 
regarding  their  property  as  not  their  own,  but 
all  the  Lord's,  and  themselves  as  his  stewards^ 
appointed  to  manage  it  for  the  comfort  of  his 


Apology  2,  p.  61 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  48 

family— the  household  of  faith,  and   for   the 
furtherance  of  his  cause. 

On  this  subject  we  have  the  testimony  of 
enemies  as  well  as  friends.  Julian,  who  died 
in  363,  was  baptized  in  infancy  and  trained  up 
in  t'he  church.  But  after  being  elected  Em- 
peror of  Rome,  he  became  a  bitter  enemy  and 
persecutor.  While  vilifying  the  christians,  he 
speaks  in  strong  terms  of  their  active  charity. 
He  says,  "  By  their  charity  to  the  poor,  they 
beget  the  greatest  admiration  in  the  minds  of 
men,  for  they  give  themselves  up  to  humanity 
and  charity  ;  and,  by  these  plausible  and  inter- 
esting ways,  strengthen  and  increase  their 
wicked  and  pernicious  party."  Again  he 
says,  they  first  inveigle  honest  men,  by  what 
they  call  their  feasts  of  love,  banquets,  min- 
istry and  attendance  upon  tables  ;  and  then 
seduce  them  into  their  wickedness  and  im- 
piety," i.  e.  in  forsaking  the  idol  temples. 

As  Emperor  of  Rome,  Julian  had  employed 
all  his  influence  to  check  the  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity and  uphold  paganism ;  but  without 
success.  Hence,  in  a  letter  to  Arsacius,  the 
chief  priest  of  idolatry,  he  laments  the  deser- 


44  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

tion  and  ruin  of  the  idol  temples,  and  the  great 
declension  of  paganism  ;  and  then  advises  him 
to  the  same  course  to  sustain  it  that  he  con- 
demns in  the  Christians.  "  For  the  poor  (says 
he)  having  no  care  taken  of  them,  the  wicked 
Gallileans  know  very  well  how  to  make  their 
advantage  of  it."  And  hence  he  urges  Arsa- 
cius  "  to  take  care  of  the  poor  and  build  hos- 
pitals in  every  city  for  the  entertainment  of 
poor  strangers  and  travelers,  both  of  their 
own  and  other  religions.  "  For  it  is  a  shame 
(says  he,)  that  when  the  Jews  suffer  none  of 
theirs  to  beg,  and  the  wicked  Gallileans  re- 
lieve, not  only  their  own,  but  those  of  our 
party,  that  we  only  should  be  wanting  in  so 
necessary  a  duty."  Lucian,  also,  while  at- 
tempting to  ridicule  the  Christians,  speaks  in 
equally  strong  terms  of  their  active  charity. 
He  says,  "  They  contemn  all  the  advantages 
of  this  life;  and  shew  an  incredible  readiness, 
at  any  cost  or  pains,  to  relieve  the  wants  of 
their  fellow  creatures  —  whether  friends  or 
enemies."*      How    powerful   is    Christianity, 


•  Care,  Part  III,  pp.  287-8  and  293. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  45 

when  shining  in  the  lives  of  its  professors! 
It  extorts  praise,  even  from  its  bitterest  ene- 
mies and  persecutors ! ! 

Thus  the  same  fruits  which  evinced  the 
genuineness  of  that  revival  on  the  day  of  Pen- 
tecost, still  marked  its  progress. 

Finally,  We  have  complete  demonstration 
of  the  continuance  of  this  revival,  in  the  vast 
number  of  converts  to  Christianity,  and  their 
steadfastness  in  the  faith  through  scenes  of 
violent  persecution. 

In  253,  Cyprian,  Bishop  of  Carthage,  wrote 
a  tract  to  Demetrian,  a  violent  persecutor  of 
the  Christians,  in  which  he  says,  "  Our  num- 
bers are  great,  and  we  are  consequently  able 
to  make  our  adversaries  very  sensible  of  our 
resentments.  Yet  w^e  bear  all  your  violence 
without  the  least  return  ;  assured  that  what- 
ever we  suffer  shall,  in  due  time,  have  its  ap- 
propriate vindication."*  In  this  assurance, 
they  were  not  disappointed.  For  the  more  they 
were  persecuted,  the  more  they  multiplied  and 
grew  ;    until  it  passed  into  a  proverb,  "  The 


*  Cyprian's  "Works,  p.  193 ;  London  Edition,  1717. 


46  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

blood   of  the    Martyrs    is    the    seed   of   the 
Church." 

Minucius  Felix,  who  wrote  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  third  century,  says,  "  The  daily  in- 
crease of  our  numbers  is  a  commendation  of 
our  religion.  For  the  Christian  party  are 
faithful  to  their  holy  profession,  and  are  con- 
tinually augmented  from  the  heathen."* 

Tertullian,  near  the  close  of  the  second 
century,  says  :  "  The  common  cry  is,  the  city 
is  invested,  town  and  country  overrun  with 
Christians.  And  this  universal  revolt  of  all 
ages,  sexes  and  qualities,  is  lamented  as  a  pub- 
lic loss ;  and  yet  this  prodigious  progress  of 
Christianity  is  not  enough  to  surprise  some 
men  into  a  suspicion  that  there  must  needs  be 
some  secret  good,  some  charming  advantage, 
thus  to  drain  the  world,  and  attract  from 
every  quarter."  Again  he  says,  "  We  are  but 
of  yesterday,  and  have  grown  up  and  over- 
spread your  empire.  Your  cities,  your  islands, 
your  forts,  towns  and  assemblies ;  your  very 
camps,  wards,  companies,  palace,  senate,  forum, 


"Reeve's  Apol.  yol.  II,  p.  152,  London  Ed.,  1709. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  47 

all  swarm  with  Christians.  Your  temples  in- 
deed we  leave  to  yourselves.  And  they  are 
the  only  places  you  can  name  without  Chris- 
tians. If  as  professed  enemies,  we  were  to 
engage  you  in  the  open  field,  do  you  think 
we  could  want  forces  ?  If  such  a  numerous 
host  of  Christians  should  but  retire  from  your 
empire,  the  very  evacuation  would  be  abun- 
dant revenge.  You  would  stand  agast  at  your 
desolation,  and  be  struck  dumb  at  the  general 
silence  and  horror  of  nature,  as  if  the  whole 
world  were  departed!  You  would  be  at  a 
loss  for  men  to  govern;  and  in  the  pitiful 
remains,  you  would  find  more  enemies  than 
citizens.  But  now  you  exceed  in  friends, 
because  you  exceed  in  Christians."* 

Thus  had  Christianity  triumphed  over 
paganism,  and  left  her  idol  temples  almost 
deserted,  before  God  passed  the  sceptre  of 
government  into  the  hands  of  his  own  people, 
and  extinguished  the  fires  of  persecution. 

The  reign  of  Constantine,  the  first  Chris- 
tian Emperor,  commenced  early  in  the  fourth 


*  Reeye's  Apol.,  vol.  I.,  pp.  157-323-4-5-6. 


48  HISTORICAL      EVIDENCE. 

century.  It  was  attended,  not  only  with  out- 
ward peace  and  prosperity  to  the  Church ;  but 
with  a  rapid  increase  in  numbers.  It  was 
emphatically  a  sealing  time  for  the  servants  of 
God,  as  predicted  in  the  seventh  chapter  of 
Revelation. 

Thus  the  revival  which  commenced  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost  was  continued  for  more  than 
three  hundred  years.  So  long  as  Christians 
continued  daily  to  wait  upon  the  Lord  in  his 
ordinances,  he  wrought  with  them  and  added 
to  the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved. 
And  thus  he  sanctioned  the  daily  service,  in- 
troduced by  the  Apostles  into  the  Christian 
Church,  r.nd  blessed  the  efforts  of  his  people 
in  gathering  an  abundant  spiritual  harvest. 

Had  this  blessed  revival  continued,  with  all 
its  fruits  of  love  to  God  and  zeal  for  his  glory, 
and  of  peace  and  good  will  to  men,  and  active 
charity,  it  would  long  since  have  introduced 
and  perpetuated  Messiah's  triumphant  reign 
on  earth.  And  why  was  it  not  continued? 
Alas!  a  sad  mistake  was  committed.  The 
civil  government,  when  brought  under  Chris- 
tian influence,  undertook  to  foster  the  Church 


HISTORICAL      EVIDENCE.  49 

by  sustaining  the  Christian  ministry  from  the 
public  treasury.  And  she,  at  length,  began  to 
lean  for  support  on  the  civil  arm,  and  not  on 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit  and  the  blessing  of 
God,  or  with  her  own  efforts.  By  this  the 
Spirit  was  grieved  and  the  Church  shorn  of 
her  strength.  And  ere  she  was  aware,  on  the 
walls  of  her  temples  was  written  "Ichabod — 
the  glory  is  departed."  By  her  union  with  the 
state,  her  light  went  out.  The  abominations 
of  popery  were  gradually  introduced ;  and  a 
long  night  of  ignorance  and  superstition  over- 
spread the  nations  emphatically  styled  the 
"  dark  ages."  The  man  of  sin  sat  enthroned 
in  the  temple  of  God,  baptized  with  the  name 
of  Christian,  but  breathing  the  spirit  of  ar-ti- 
Christ.  Under  his  malignant  influence,  Rome 
again  unsheathed  the  sword  of  persecution 
against  the  faithful,  who  refused  to  bow  at  the 
shrine  of  her  idolatry.  The  struggle  was  tre- 
mendous. Christian  blood  flowed  in  torrents. 
Fifty  millions,  slain  in  the  conflict,  were  borne 
to  heaven  in  the  flames  of  martyrdom  !  Anti- 
Christ  prevailed,  and  the  Church  was  diiven 
into  the  wilderness,  where  she  has  now  re- 
4 


50  HISTORICAL      EVIDENCE. 

mained  for  twelve  hundred  and  sixty  years, 
weeping  over  her  children  slain  and  her  primi- 
tive glory  departed. 


SECTION  IV. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  this  terrible  apos- 
tacy — commencing  as  it  did,  under  the  unhal- 
lowed influence  of  a  church  and  state  union — 
we  find  its  progress  marked  by  an  increasing 
neglect  of  professing  Christians  to  wait  upon 
God  in  his  ordinances ;  especially  the  daily 
service. 

Dr.  Cave  on  Primitive  Christianity,*  says : 
"  The  custom  of  receiving  the  sacrament 
every  day,  continued  longer  in  some  churches 
than  in  others,  and  wore  off  by  degrees  as  the 
primitive  zeal  abated.  St.  Basil  tells  us  that 
in  his  time,  near  the  close  of  the  fourth  cen- 
tury, there  was  a  general  attendance  at  the 
Lord's  table  four  times  a  week — on  Lord's 
day,  Wednesday,  Friday  and  Saturday.     St, 


*  Tart  I.,  pp.  339-341. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  51 

Augustine,  who  died  in  430,  says,  in  his  Epis- 
tle to  Januarius,  "In  some  churches,  not  a 
day  passes  without  the  administration  of  the 
sacraments ;  in  others  it  is  administered  only 
on  Saturday  and  Sunday ;  and  in  others  only 
on  Sunday."*  Afterwards,  as  the  spirit  of 
religion  still  more  sensibly  declined,  from  once 
a  day  it  came  to  twice  a  week — then  to  once 
a  week,  on  Lord's  day — then  to  once  a  month, 
and  after  that,  to  thrice  a  year.  To  so  great 
coldness  did  the  piety  and  zeal  of  Christians 
grow,  after  the  true  primitive  spirit  of  the  gos- 
pel had  left  the  world." 

During  the  progress  of  this  decline,  we  find 
it  deeply  deplored  by  the  writers  of  that  age. 
Chrysostom  says  :  "  It  makes  me  sigh  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  that  when  Christ,  our 
common  Lord  and  Master,  is  about  to  appear 
in  these  holy  mysteries,  the  Church  is  in  a  man- 
ner empty  and  deserted.  In  vain  do  we  stand 
at  the  altar!  In  vain  is  the  daily  sacrifice  to 
so  many  who  refuse  to  partake.  What  excuse 
can  be  allowed  for  this  ?     The  best  preserver 


*  Quoted  in  Calvin's  Institutes,  p.  395.    If.  Y.,  1819. 


52  HISTORICAL      EVIDENCE. 

of  kindnesses  is  the  remembrance  of  them, 
and  perpetual  thanksgiving  for  them.  There- 
fore, these  venerable  mysteries  which  we  cele- 
brate every  day  in  our  assemblies,  are  called 
the  Eucharist,  or  thanksgiving,  because  they 
are  the  memorials  of  God's  kindness  to  us."* 

Thus,  while  the  daily  service  was  continued, 
many  neglected  to  attend,  and  ungratefully 
turned  away  from  the  memorials  of  a  Sa- 
viour's dying  love.  With  such  St.  Ambrose 
earnestly  expostulates.  "  If  it  be  our  daily 
bread,  (says  he,)  why  receive  it  once  a  month 
or  once  a  year  only?  Receive  that  daily 
which  is  for  thy  daily  benefit,  and  so  live  that 
thou  mayest  be  prepared  to  receive  it  daily. 
He  that  is  not  prepared  to  receive  it  every 
day,  is  not  prepared  to  receive  it  after  a 
year."t 

Chrysostom,  who  died  in  407,  says :  "  This 
is  what  destroys  all  religion,  that  men  count  it 
piety  and  reverence,  that  they  come  not  fre- 
quently to  the  Lord's  table;  not  considering 


*  Horn.  III.,  p.  362 ;  quoted  by  Bingham,  p.  854. 

t  Ambrose  de  sacram,  book  5,  cb.  4.     Bingham,  p.  852. 


HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE.  53 

that  if  they  come  unworthily,  though  it  be  but 
OFxCe  a  year,  they  are  deserving  of  punishment. 
It  is  not  irreverence  to  come  frequently,  but  to 
come  unworthily,  tho-ugh  a  man  do  it  but  once 
in  all  his  life.  But  we  are  so  stupid  as  to  think 
that  when  we  have  wallowed  in  sin  all  the 
year,  without  any  care  to  repent,  it  is  suffi- 
cient, that  we  have  not  daily  presumed  to  take 
the  memorials  of  Christ's  body  and  blood — not 
considering  that  Judas,  who  betrayed  Christ, 
did  it  but  once ;  and  the  Jew^s,  who  crucified 
him,  did  it  but  once.  But  did  that  excuse 
them  ?  Why  measure  this  matter  by  time 
only?  Let  the  reasonable  time  be  a  good 
conscience.  With  this  qualification,  come 
always — without  it,  come  not  even  once,  lest 
you  eat  and  drink  judgment  to  your  own 
souls."* 

"  When  matters  were  come  to  this  degen- 
eracy, (says  Binghamf)  instead  of  reviving 
the  ancient  discipline,  which  excluded   such 


*  Horn.  5,  on  I.  Tim.,  p.  1540,  and  Horn.  17,  on  Heb.,  p. 
1872  ;  quoted  by  Bingham,  pp.  852-3. 
tP.854. 


54  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

members  from  the  Church,  it  was  determined 
by  the  council  of  Agde,  about  the  year  506, 
that  the  laity  should  be  required  to  receive  the 
communion  only  three  times  a  year.  This 
decree  was  renewed  by  the  council  of  Tours, 
in  813.  But  still  the  clergy  and  the  more  de- 
vout of  the  laity  continued  the  daily  service, 
and  the  practice  of  daily  communion,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  writers  of  that  age.  Bertram 
says  "  The  sacrament  is  administered  not  only 
once  a  year,  but  on  every  day  throughout  the 
year."  And  it  is  remarkable,  that  so  late  as 
the  ninth  centurv,  the  council  of  Aix  La 
Chapelle  attempted  to  restore  the  ancient  prac- 
tice to  its  primitive  lustre,  by  reviving  the  de- 
cree of  the  council  of  Antioch,  passed  in  341, 
which  orders  such  as  neglect  the  communion 
to  be  excluded  from  the  Church.  But  the  dis- 
ease had  become  too  inveterate  to  be  easily 
corrected.  The  corruption  increased;  until, 
by  the  council  of  Lateran,  the  obligation  to 
communicate  was  reduced  to  once  a  year. 
This  was  done  under  Pope  Innocent  III.,  about 
the  year  1200.  This  rule  was  afterwards  ta- 
ken into  their  canon  law,  requiring  every  man, 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  55 

woman  and  child  who  had  come  to  years  of 
discretion,  to  make  auricular  confession  of  all 
his  sins  to  his  own  priest,  and  receive  the  com- 
munion privately  once  a  year  ;  unless  excused 
by  his  pviest."*  "And  here  (says  Bingham,  p. 
855)  we  may  date  the  utter  ruin  of  the  ancient 
and  apostolic  practice  of  frequent  and  general 
communion  of  the  whole  Church  together 
— private  and  solitary  masses  having  been  sub- 
stituted in  its  place" — thus  rejecting  the  ordi- 
nances of  God,  and  "  teaching  for  doctrine  the 
commandments  of  men."  '*  This  continued 
until  the  reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century." 
Then  those  who  protested  against  the  abom- 
inations of  popery,  attempted  to  rectify  these 
abuses.  And  the  first  Reformers  happily  suc- 
ceeded, so  far  as  to  abolish  private  masses  and 
auricular  confession  from  all  the  Protestant 
churches.  But  to  restore  the  daily  service 
and  communion  of  the  primitive  Church,  was 
not  so  easy.  It  required  a  closer  walk  with 
God,  by  the  constant  indwelling  of  his  Spirit 
and  the  lively  exercise  of  that  faith  which  dis- 


*  Bingham's  "Works,  vol.  5,  p.  372. 


66  HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE. 

cerns  the  Lord's  body;  and  thus  con-strains  us 
to  take  up  l/te  crdss  daily  and  follow  him  in 
his  self-denying  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  men. 
In  this  state  of  mind,  we  are  prepared  for  a 
daily  communion.  But  it  can  never  be  at- 
tained and  perpetuated,  by  those  whose  hearts 
and  hands  are  so  filled  with  the  world,  that  they 
have  no  time  to  attend  a  daily  service.  This 
was  the  difficulty  which  baffled  the  first  re- 
formers. •  Calvin  labored  hard  to  restore  the 
primitive  practice.  Commenting  on  Acts  II : 
41-47,  he  says  :  "  The  invariable  custom  was, 
that  no  assembly  of  the  Church  should  be  held 
without  the  word  being  preached,  prayers  offer- 
ed, the  Lord's  Supper  administered,  and  alms 
given."  In  his  Institutes,  he  pleads  hard  for 
this  custom,  and  censures  its  neglect  as  cer- 
tainly a  device  of  the  devil.*  Yet,  after  all,  he 
could  not  prevail  to  have  even  a  mnnthh/  com- 
munion established  among  the  people  ;  but  was 
overborne  in  his  endeavors,  and  forced  to  yield 
to  a  rule  for  communion  only  three  times  a 
year.     But  he  says  he  "  took  care  to  have  it 


•  Book  4,  ch.  17,  pp.  595-6,  N".  Y.  ed.,  1819. 


HISTORICAL  EVIDENCE.  57 

entered  upon  record  that  this  was  an  evil  cus- 
tom, to  the  intent  that  posterity  might  more 
easily  correct  it."*  There  that  record  has 
stood  for  three  hundred  years,  and  the  evil 
custom  still  remains  uncorrected.  And  what 
has  been  the  consequence?  Instead  of  an 
active,  vigorous,  aggressive  piety,  Protestant 
Christendom,  with  comparatively  few  excep- 
tions, has  witnessed  a  constant  tendency  to 
decline  and  spiritual  slumber.  Even  in  Ger- 
many, wheie  the  Protestant  faith  achieved  its 
greatest  wonders,  within  fifty  years  from  the 
days  of  Luther,  most  of  the  churches  had  sunk 
into  a  cold  and  dead  formality,  fostering  the 
spirit  of  scepticism  —  which  boasts  its  fifty 
thousand  infidels  even  as  emigrants  to  this 
country.  During  the  great  revival  in  the  time 
of  Whitfield  and  Edwards,  the  Wesleys  and 
Tennants,  and  their  associates,  about  one  hun- 
dred vears  ago,  an  eflfort  was  made  so  far  to 
restore  the  primitive  practice  as  to  have  a 
communion  every  Sabbath.  In  the  Life  of 
Edwardsf  we  find  one  of  his  letters,  add-ressed 


*  Calvin  on  Ecclesiastical  Rites,  p.  206;  Bingham,  p.  855. 
t  P.  417,  New  York  edition,  1830. 


58  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

to  Rev.  Thomos  Erskine  of  England,  in  which 
he  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  "Randal's 
Letters  on  frequent  Communion,"  and  says  in 
reply :  "  We  ought  to  pray  earnestly  for  a 
general  revival,  and  to  use  means  that  are 
proper  in  order  to  it.  And  one  proper  means 
must  be  allowed  t-o  be  a  due  observance  of 
OarisCs  ordinances,  one  of  which  is  that  which 
you  and  Mr.  Randal  have  been  striving  for, 
viz  :  a  restoration  of  the  primitive  practice  of 
frequent  communion.  It  must  come  to  this  at 
last ;  and  Christ's  ministers  and  people  should 
rest  in  nothing  short  of  a  full  restoration  of  the 
primitive  practice."  Yes,  it  must  come  to  this 
at  last — a  full  restoration  of  Christ's  own  or- 
dinances, with  a  ''full  assurance  of  faith " 
and  expectation  of  his  promised  blessing.  This 
alone  will  secure  the  constant  presence  of  his 
Spirit  and  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and 
thus  keep  the  Church  awake,  and  active,  and 
successful,  as  daily  laborers  in  the  vinyard  of 
Christ.  Long  have  his  people  refused  to  do 
this.  Nearly  fifteen  hundred  years  have  rolled 
away  since  the  Church  forsook  the  ordinances 
of  her  God,  and  grieved  his  Spirit,  and  turned 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  69 

away  from  the  light  of  his  countenance.  Thus 
she  eclipsed  her  rising  glory,  and  left  the  world 
in  almost  total  darkness  for  a  thousand  years. 
Then  the  light  of  the  Reformation  dawned, 
portending  a  brighter  day.  But  alas!  that 
Reformation  was  but  partial;  and  she  has 
since  shed  but  a  feeble  and  flickering  light  on 
the  dense  darkness  which  still  broods  over  this 
sin-ruine-d  world.  Seasons  of  blessed  revival 
she  has  indeed  experienced,  or  the  light  of  her 
piety  would  have  gone  out.  But  these  seasons 
have  been  comparatively  few,  of  short  contin- 
uance, and  limited  in  their  results.  Much  has 
also  been  done,  especially  within  the  last  fifty 
years,  in  preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord  among 
the  nations.  But  even  in  Christendom  the 
harvest  has  not  been  gathered,  and  the  mil- 
lions are  perishing.  The  noon  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  has  passed  over  a  slumbering 
Church,  and  the  Saviour's  remonstrance,  un- 
heeded, is  still  ringing  in  her  ears  :  "  Even  from 
the  days  of  your  fathers  ye  have  gone  away 
from  mine  ordinances,  and  have  not  kept 
them.  Return  unto  me  and  I  will  return 
UNTO  YOU,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."     Let  the 


60  HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE. 

churches  return  unto  the  Lord,  and  seek  him 
daily  in  his  own  ordinances,  with  full  confi- 
dence in  his  promise,  as  the  primitive  christians 
did,  and  he  will  soon  return  to  them  with  the 
light  of  his  countenance  and  ihejoy  of  his  sal- 
vation. "  Then  will  they  teach  transgressors 
His  ways,  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto 
him."  All  Christendom  shall  be  shaken,  like 
the  dry  bones  in  the  valley  of  vision ;  and  the 
Spirit,  like  a  rushing,  mighty  wind,  shall 
breathe  upon  the  millions  of  the  slain,  that 
they  may  live,  and  rise  to  proclaim  the  triumph 
of  hi-s  grace.  Yea,  more  —  he  will  reveal  his 
conquering  arm  —  already  stretched  out  in 
judgment  on  the  wicked  —  in  subduing  the  na- 
tions to  his  peaceful  sceptre. 

Let  the  Church  come  up  out  of  the  wilder- 
ness in  which  she  has  so  long  wandered  ;  let 
hof  show  herself  to  the  world,  as  leaning  for 
support  upon  the  arm  of  her  Beloved,  seeking 
daily  communion  with  him,  not  only  in  private, 
but  also  in  the  great  congregations ;  let  her 
united  voice  of  prayer  and  praise,  of  warning 
and  entreaty,  ring  in  the  ears  of  a  dying  world 
from  day  to  day,  and  Christ  would  soon  give 
her  the  victory. 


HISTORICAL     EVIDENCE.  61 

Thus  he  once  triumphed  over  pagan  perse- 
cuting Rome,  when  she  claimed  to  be  mistress 
of  the  world.  And  thus  he  will  yet  triumph 
over  papal  persecuting  Rome,  though  leagued 
with  earth  and  hell  to  oppose  his  reign. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    DAILY    SERVICE    OF    THE    PRIMITIVE    CHURCH 
A    DIVINE    INSTITUTION. 

WHEN  the  Church  passed  from  the  Jewish 
to  the  Christian  dispensation,  there  was 
a  great  change  in  her  Ritual.  Circumscision, 
which,  for  more  than  nineteen  hundred  years, 
had  been  the  appointed  seal  of  God's  everlast- 
ing covenant  with  Abraham  and  his  seed  — 
w^as  exchanged  for  christian  baptism,  with  the 
apostolic  assurance,  "  The  promise  is  to  you  and 
to  your  children  ;"  for  ''if  ye  he  ChrisVsy  then 
are  ye  Abraham'' s  seed,  and  heirs  according  to 
the  promise."  And  instead  of  all  those  bloody 
sacrifices,  which  pointed  forward  to  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  the  simple  ordinance  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  instituted,  as  a  memorial 
of  the  same  great  event.  And,  as  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  a  daily  service  of  divine 
appointment,  with  an  ordinance  which  typified 


DAILY  SERVICE  A  DIVINE  INSTITUTION.       63 

that  event,  they  now  commemorated  it,  in  their 
daily  communion  at  the  Lord's  table.  Thus 
the  daily  service  was  continued,  with  only  a 
change  in  its  form.  And  this  was  done  by 
the  agency  and  sanction  of  the  Apostles,  who 
were  gifted  with  miraculous  powers  and  guided 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  we  find  it  not  only 
continued,  hut  fully  attended  in  the  Church,  for 
more  than  three  centuries,  during  the  period 
of  her  highest  prosperity  and  most  signal 
triumphs.  What  more  evidence  do  we  need 
of  its  divine  appointment  as  a  gospel  institu- 
tion ?  It  was  introduced  by  the  same  authority 
as  the  baptism  of  females,  and  the  change  of 
the  Sabbath  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day 
of  the  week.  Our  authority,  in  these  cases,  is 
the  practice  of  the  inspired  Apostles.  And  this 
we  have  for  the  daily  service.  This  the  primi- 
tive Church  had,  and  regarded  as  ample  au- 
thority in  every  such  case.  Their  general 
rule  was,  "  That  any  ordinance  or  usage  of  the 
Church,  which  could  be  traced  back  for  its 
origin,  not  to  any  act  of  council,  but  to  the 
practice  of  the  inspired  Apostles,  was  instituted 
by  divine  authority."     This  fact,  being  ascer- 


64  DAILY   SERVICE 

tained,  was  allowed  to  settle  the  question  and 
foreclose  debate.  And  some  modern,  as  well 
as  the  ancient  commentators,  understand  the 
direction  of  Christ:  **  This  do  ye  as  oft  as 
ye  drink  it  in  remembrance  of  me,"  as  a  com- 
mand to  do  it  often.  Near  the  close  ot  the 
second  century,  Tertullian  and  Cyprian  assure 
us  that  the  petition,  "Give  us  t'his  day  our 
daily  bread,"  was  understood  as  including  food 
for  the  soul  as  well  as  the  body ;  and  that 
Christ,  in  that  form  of  prayer,  had  taught  his 
disciples  to  ask  that  the  consecrated  elements 
from  his  own  table  might  be  given  them  daily, 
for  their  spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in 
grace.  "  This,"  says  Bingham  (vol.  4,  p.  371), 
*'  is  demonstration  that  they  assembled  for  pub- 
lic worship  every  day,  since  they  received  the 
Eucharist  every  day,  which  they  did  not  use 
to  consecrate  but  in  public  assemblies  of  the 
Church." 

If  this  daily  service  was  held  as  a  divine 
institution,  how  and  when  was  it  discontinued  ? 

This  was  done  (as  we  have  shown  in  chapt. 
III.,  sec.  4,)  first,  by  simple  neglect,  when  the 
Church  became  corrupted  by  her  union  with 


A    DIVINE    INSTITUTION.  65 

the  State.  And  then,  instead  of  enforcing  the 
discipline  of  the  Church,  ihey  attempted  to 
justify  that  neglect  by  usurping  authority  to 
legislate  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  adopted 
a  rule  releasing  the  laity  from  obligation  to 
attend  the  daily  service,  or  to  commune  at  the 
Lord's  table  oftener  than  three  times  a  year; 
which  was  afterwards  reduced  to  twice,  and 
then  to  once  a  year.  By  this,  and  other  kindred 
acts,  the  Church  of  Rome  assumed  the  char- 
acter of  Antichrist,  of  whom  it  was  predicted 
by  Daniel,  that  he  "  should  speak  great  words 
against  the  Most  High,  and  wear  out  the 
Saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think  to  change 
times  and  laws.  Yea,  he  shall  magnify  himself 
to  the  Prince  of  the  host,  and  by  him  the  daily 
sacrifice  shall  be  taken  away." 

As  the  "  taking  away  of  the  daily  sacrifice,  and 
setting  up  the  abomination  which  maketh  deso- 
late," marked  the  horrible  wickedness  of  the 
Jews,  and  provoked  the  terrible  judgments  of 
their  national  overthrow  and  long-continued 
dispersions,  so  the  taking  away  the  daily  sacri- 
fice or  service  of  the  Christian  Church  was  an 
act  of  horrible  wickedness,  which  opened  the 
5 


6C  DAILY    SERVICE 

wav  for  all  the  abominations  of  popery,  and  all 
the  blood  and  horror  which  have  marked  its 
course  and  desolated  the  fairest  portions  of 
Christendom.  "  And  how  long  shall  be  the  vision 
concerning  the  daily  sacrifice,  and  the  trans- 
gression of  desolation,  to  give  both  the  sanctu- 
ary and  the  host  to  be  trodden  under  foot  ?" 
This  question  was  announced  by  a  heavenly 
messenger,  in  the  ears  of  Daniel.  And  soon 
the  answer  came,  which  we  find  recorded  in 
his  book,  and  also  in  the  Revelation  by  John, 
(Dan.  8  :  13,  14,  and  11  :  11,  12;  Rev.  12  :  6,) 
limiting  the  duration  of  the  reign  of  Antichrist 
to  1260  years.  This  period  is  believed  to  be 
drawing  near  to  its  close.  "  Then  shall  the 
sanctuary  be  cleansed,  and  the  daily  service 
restored."  Here  is  demonstration  that  the 
Christian  Church  had  been  blessed  with  a  daily 
service  of  divine  appointment.  For  how  could 
it  have  been  taken  away,  and  how  again  re- 
stored, if  no  such  service  had  ever  been  insti- 
tuted ? 

For  about  three  hundred  years  has  Protest- 
ant Christendom  rejected  the  daily  service  as 
a  divine  appointment,  and  blindly  followed  in 


A   DIVINE   INSTITUTION.  67 

the  footsteps  of  Antichrist,  in  legislating  for 
themselves  as  to  the  times  and  seasons  of  wait- 
ing upon  God  in  his  ordinances  —  the  Sabbath 
only  excepted.  And  is  it  not  high  time  to 
awake  to  this  subject,  and  see  wherein  we  have 
failed  to  walk  with  God  in  his  own  ordinances, 
and  thus  have  caused  him  to  hide  his  face  from 
us  and  withhold  his  promised  blessing  ?  Why 
not  return  at  once  to  the  practice  of  the  primi- 
tive Church,  and  thus  adopt  the  uniform  stand- 
ard of  christian  duty,  which  was  established  by 
divine  authority  ?  Can  the  blessing  of  God  be 
secured,  the  conscience  of  christians  be  reach- 
ed, and  any  thing  like  uniformity  of  practice 
be  restored  to  the  churches,  in  any  other  way  ? 
While  all  our  week-day  appointments  for  pub- 
lic service  are  regarded  as  of  mere  human 
authority,  what  can  be  expected,  as  a  general 
thing,  but  a  meagre  attendance,  and  the  conse- 
quent prevalence  of  worldliness  and  spiritual 
slumber?  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  stand  ye  in 
the  may  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  good  old  paths, 
where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and 
ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls."  "  Even  from 
the  days  of  your  fathers,  ye  have  gone  away 


68  DAILY    SERVICE 

from  mine  ordinances^  and  have  not  kept  them. 
Return  unto  me  and  I  icill  return  unto  you, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts.  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes 
into  the  store-house,  and  jjrove  me  now  herewith, 
if  I  will  not'open  to  you  the  windows  of  heaven, 
and  pour  you  out  a  blessing  that  there  shall  not 
he  room  enough  to  receive  it." 

As  to  the  three  annual  festivals,  the  sabbati- 
cal year,  and  the  Jubilee,  which  were  specified 
seasons  of  rest  and  of  rich  spiritual  privilege 
under  the  Jewish  economy,  they  were  inappli- 
cable to  the  gospel  dispensation ;  but,  in  their 
spiritual  import,  doubtless  included  in  that  uni- 
versal Jubilee,  proclaimed  by  angels  at  the 
Saviour's  birth  —  a  Jubilee  of  "  good  tidings 
of  great  joy  to  all  people.'^ 

And  can  it  be  that  the  people  of  God  are 
less  favored  now,  as  to  servile  labor  and  time 
for  social  worship,  than  under  the  former  dis- 
pensation? Has  the  gospel  abridged  their 
privileges  ?  What  if  all  those  positive  enact- 
ments, except  the  daily  service  and  the  weekly 
Sabbath,  are  repealed  ?  With  all  the  light 
thrown  on  this  subject  from  the  ancient  dis- 
pensation and  from  general  laws  which  indicate 


A   DIVINE   INSTITUTION.  69 

the  will  of  God,  and  with  the  commission  in 
her  hands — "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature" — a  com- 
mission which  has  devolved  upon  her  the  re- 
sponsibility of  a  thousand  millions  of  immortal 
souls  — shall  christians  conclude  that  God  has 
withdrawn  that  provision  for  their  temporal 
support  which  he  pledged  to  his  ancient  peo- 
ple, and  doomed  the  gospel  Church  to  toil  for 
the  body  nearly  six  parts  out  of  seven  of  th*eir 
whole  time  ?  Surely,  none  but  a  groveling  mind, 
blinded  by  the  love  of  this  world  to  th3  amazing 
interests  of  the  immortal  soul,  could  ever  cherish 
a  thought  like  this.  Surely,  the  Apostles  and 
primitive  christians  did  not  so  learn  Christ,  or 
neglect  their  high  commission  to  labor  for  the 
world's  conversion  to  God,  No !  instead  of 
devoting  little  more  than  one-seventh  part  of 
their  time  to  this  great  work,  we  see  them  daily 
engaged  in  it,  and  the  Lord  working  with 
them,  and  making  daily  additions  to  the 
Church.  And  is  it  not  ris;ht  and  safe  to  follow 
their  example,  even  with  the  Saviour's  solemn 
mandate  ringing  in  our  ears  :  "  Labor  not  for 
the  meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which 


70       DAILY  SERVICE  A  DIVINE  INSTITUTION. 

endureth  unto  everlasting  life."  This  surely  re- 
quires that  v^^e  make  the  soul  the  chief  concern, 
devoting  to  it  our  principal  care  and  effort. 

Does  unbelief  suggest,  "  What,  then,  will  be- 
come of  the  body  ?"  Listen  again  to  the  faith- 
ful and  tender  Shepherd  of  his  flock,  and  you 
hear  him  say  :  "  Be  not  anxious  what  ye  shall 
eat,  or  wherewithal  ye  shall  be  clothed,  (for 
after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles  seek,)  for 
your  heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have 
need  of  all  these  things.  But  seek  ye  first  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  And  is 
not  Christ  as  able  and  willing  to  redeem  his 
pledge  to  his  people  now  as  in  ancient  times  ? 
None  can  doubt  this. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DAILY  SERVICE  A  DICTATE  OF  COMMON  SENSE. 

"IT AN,  in  his  present  state,  has  a  soul  endow- 
IlL  ed  with  rational  and  immortal  powers, 
inhabiting  a  frail,  dying  body,  with  its  animal 
propensities  and  instincts.  Our  bodily  wants 
are  few,  and  the  means  of  supply  are  wisely 
and  graciously  furnished  by  the  great  Author 
of  our  being,  who  requires  us  to  labor  and  pray 
for  "our  daily  bread."  Our  spiritual  wants 
are  many,  and  press  upon  us  with  all  the  crav- 
ings of  an  immortal  soul,  w^th  its  vast  interests 
for  eternity.  These  interests  are  all  jeoparded 
by  sin,  and  the  soul  has  become  a  moral 
wreck,  sinking  in  the  bottomless  abyss  of  ruin. 
But  God,  in  boundless  mercy,  has  interposed 
to  save,  and  provided  all  the  needful  means, 
even  at  the  amazing  sacrifice  at  Calvary! 

Under  these  circumstances,  which  class  of 
wants  is  it  that  claims  our  chief  attention  and 


72  DAILY    SERVICE 

most  strenuous  efforts,  in  the  use  of  God's  ap- 
poii.ted  means  ?  Is  it  those  of  the  body,  which 
is  but  dust,  and  must  soon  return  to  dust 
again  ?  Or  is  it  those  of  the  soul,  sinking  as 
it  is  in  the  awful  abyss  of  endless  and  unutter- 
able woe  ?  The  common  sense  of  a  world 
pronounces  :  "  The  soul  is  the  chief  concern  — 
its  wants  the  highest  and  most  urgent  wants  of 
man."  This  verdict  is  confirmed  b^^  the  Lord 
of  glory,  who  laid  down  his  life  for  its  redemp- 
tion. We  hear  him  say,  "  Labor  not  for  the 
meat  which  perisheth,  but  for  that  meat  which 
endureth  unto  everlasting  life."  "Seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and 
all  things  needful  to  the  body  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  It  is  not  true,  then,  that  he  who 
furnished  the  means  of  our  eternal  salvation  at 
an  infinite  price,  has  doomed  man  to  such  per- 
petual toil  for  the  body  that  little  time  or 
strength  is  left  for  the  means  to  secure  the 
welfare  of  the  precious  soul. 

But  sin  has  hardened  the  heart,  and  stupified 
the  conscience,  and  so  brutified  the  immortal 
mind,  that  man,  forgetful  of  his  high-born  desti- 
ny, grovels  in  the  dust,  anxious  for  the  body,  un- 


A    DICTATE    OF    COMMON    SENSE.  73 

concerned  for  the  soul.  Surrounded  as  we  are 
by  such  obj.ects  of  compnssion,  and  having  been 
rescued  ourselves  from  the  same  forlorn  condi- 
tion, what  can  we  do  to  rescue  others  ?  What- 
ever is  best  adapted  to  awaken  their  attention, 
and  keep  it  awake  to  the  amazing  interests  of 
the  perishing  soul,  certainly  ought  to  he  done. 
This  is  the  dictate  of  our  common  humanity,  as 
well  as  christian  principle.  And  what  more 
effectual  than  the  means  which  God  has  de- 
vised, and  which  he  so  signally  blessed  when 
used  by  the  Apostles  and  primitive  christians, 
w"hile  "  daily,  in  the  temple  and  in  every  house, 
they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus 
Christ,"  and  to  commemorate  his  dying  love 
in  their  daily  communion  at  his  table  ? 


CHAPTER   VI. 

DAILY    SERVICE    DEMANDED, 

THE  daily  service  which  characterized  the 
Apostles  and  primitive  Christians,  is  still 
demanded  hy  the  exigencies  of  the  Church  and 
the  world. 

The  Church  is  a  community  gathered  out 
of  an  apostate  world,  enslaved  to  sin  and  satan. 
And  thus  gathered,  by  their  genuine  conversion 
to  God,  they  are  to  grow  in  knowledge  and  in 
grace,  to  shine  in  the  Saviour's  image,  and 
thus  be  "  the  salt  of  the  earth  and  the  light  of 
the  world."  As  such,  the  Church  is  commis- 
sioned and  solemnly  pledged  to  educate  her 
own  offspring  for  Christ,  (Deut.  0-7,)  and  to 
stretch  out  her  arms  of  compassion  to  all  na- 
tions, and  gather  into  her  bosom  the  whole 
human  family,  converted  to  God  by  her  prayers 
and  efforts,  and  adorned  with  the  beauties  of 
holiness,  and  thus  fill  this  dark  and  sin-ruined 


DAILY    SERVICE    DEMANDED.  75 

word  with  light,  and  joy,  and  peace,  and  sal- 
vation. 

All  this  is  to  be  accomplished,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God,  through  the  agency  of  christ- 
ians. But  how  ?  Not  by  exhausting  all  their 
energies  for  the  body  during  six  days  of  the 
week,  and  little  else  than  dreaming  over  the 
means  of  grace  during  the  seventh,  that  they 
may  thus  recruit  their  exhausted  energies  only 
to  plunge  again  into  the  cares  and  business  of 
the  world.  While  christians  are  thus  minding 
the  flesh,  and  treating  with  so  much  indiffer- 
ence the  amazing  interests  of  the  perishing 
soul,  they  will  be  sunk  in  spiritual  slum- 
ber. Their  own  children  will  slumber  and  be 
hardened  in  sin,  perverting  the  gospel  into  a 
savour  of  death  unto  death  to  their  souls! 
And  the  world  around  them  will  slumber,  and 
its  dying  millions  will  perish. 

This  is  not  a  mere  picture  of  fancy.  Would 
to  God  it  were!  But  look  around  on  the 
Church  and  the  world,  and,  to  an  awful  ex- 
tent, you  see  it  realized.  What  worldliness 
and  spiritual  slumber  in  the  Church !  What 
neglect  of  the  means  for  her  own  growth  in 


76  DAILY    SERVICE    DEMANDED. 

grace,  and  for  her  enlargement  in  the  world's 
conversion  to  God !  What  unbelief  in  regard 
to  the  efficacy  of  these  means,  and  the  encour- 
agement which  God  has  given  us  to  the  diligent 
use  of  them !  Even  in  this  noon  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  emphatically  styled  "  the  aga 
of  action,"  when  God  is  opening  wide  the  door 
of  christian  enterprise  in  all  the  earth,  and  the 
agonizing  cry  of  its  perishing  millions,  ''Corns 
over  and  help  us,"  is  piercing  like  a  death-wail 
the  ears  of  the  Church,  alas  !  how  small  a  pro- 
portion of  her  members  are  really  awake  to 
this  mighty  enterprise!  how  many  are  appa- 
rently resting  in  a  dead  faith!  Some,  indeed, 
among  all  denominations  of  the  evangelical 
Church,  are  doing  nobly  and  praying  earnestly; 
and,  blessed  be  God,  their  number  is  increas- 
ing, and  the  foundation  work  of  this  stupendous 
edifice  is  slowly  advancing.  "But,"  says  an 
active  friend  of  missions,  "  compared  with  the 
efforts  now  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  the  present  is  an  age  of 
worldliness,  lukewarmness,  and  self-indulgence. 
The  merest  modicum,  as  a  general  thing,  is 
given  to  the  work  of  Christ,  while  multitudes 


DAILY    SERVICE    DEMANDED.  77 

go  for  fashion,  extravagance,  and  luxury.  Even 
the  Httle  we  give  for  foreign  missions  seems  in 
danger  of  bribing  our  consciences  into  a  neg- 
lect of  the  perishing  around  us.  The  broad  way- 
is  still  the  thronged  way,  even  in  Christendom." 
How  manifest  is  it,  that  with  the  present 
worldliness  and  unbelief  of  the  Church,  and 
neglect  of  the  means  of  grace,  the  millenium 
can  never  come,  or  be  continued  if  it  should 
come !  To  bring  about  this  predicted  event, 
in  the  way  of  God's  appointment,  christians 
must  awake  and  arise  from  the  dust,  and  put 
on  the  armor  of  light  and  the  garments  of  sal- 
vation, and  exert  their  energies  for  Christ.  It 
was  to  promote  this  object  that  Jesus  Christ, 
as  he  went  about  doing  good,  taught  the  mul- 
titudes who  thronged  about  him,  day  after  day; 
and  was  always  present  at  their  national  festi- 
vals, to  raise  his  voice  and  pour  out  his  heaven- 
ly eloquence  upon  those  vast  assemblies.  And 
to  promote  the  same  object,  the  Apostles  and 
primitive  christians  followed  in  his  footsteps, 
while  "  daily ^  in  the  temple  and  in  every  house, 
th^y  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus 
Christ." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DAILY    SERVICE    SANCTIONED. 

THE    Holy  Spirit  has  stamped  the  broad 
seal  of  heaven  upon  his  daily  service,  by 
crowning  it  with  signal  success. 

We  have  reviewed  the  opening  scene  of  the 
gospel  dispensation  in  a  powerful  revival  of 
religion  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  —  a  revival 
preceded  by  a  ten  days  prayer  meeting  for  the 
promised  baptism  of  the  Spirit,  and  carried 
forward,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  on  the  daily 
labors  of  his  servants,  "  adding  to  the  Church 
daily  such  as  should  be  saved."  We  have 
reviewed  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  seen 
her  daily  service  continued^  and  the  Lord 
working  with  his  servants  to  perpetuate  this 
revival  for  more  than  three  hundred  years  — 
sustaining  his  Church  through  ten  general  per- 
secutions, and  multiplying  converts  till  the 
great  majority  became  christians,  the  temples 
of   idolatry   were   deserted,   and   Christianity 


DAILY    SERVICE    SANCTIONED.  79 

swayed  her  peaceful  sceptre  over  the  whole 
Roman  Empire.  And  it  was  not  until  there 
was  a  "  falHng  away  "  from  their  daily  service 
and  communion  at  the  Lord's  table,  that  the 
Spirit  was  grieved  and  the  revival  declined. 

But,  though  grieved  with  the  backsliding  of 
his  people,  the  Lord- still  waited  to  be  gracious. 
And,  from  that  eventful  day  to  this,  whenever 
Christians  have  been  aroused  to  similar  efforts, 
God  has  crowned  them  with  proportionate  suc- 
cess in  the  revival  of  his  work.  And  when 
they  have  ceased  to  go  preaching  Christ  from 
house  to  house,  and  to  meet  often  for  social 
worship  and  instruction,  the  revival  has  ceas- 
ed. And  as  soon  as  they  were  content  to  meet 
only  upon  the  Sabbath,  with  a  few  to  sustain  a 
prayer-meeting,  and  perhaps  a  lecture,  once  a 
week,  you  are  sure  to  find  the  mass  of  the 
Church  worldly  minded,  at  ease  in  Zion,  and 
sinners  moving  on  to  destruction,  like  the  ox 
to  the  slaughter-house,  while  a  few  faithful 
souls  are  found,  "who  sigh  and  cry  for  the 
abominations  that  are  done  in  the  midst  of 
them." 

This  is  strikingly  exemplified  in  the  whole 


80  DAILY    SERVICE    SANCTIONED. 

history  of  the  Protestant  Church.  Look,  for 
instance,  at  her  seasons  of  progress  and  de- 
chne  in  this  country  during  the  last  half  cen- 
tury. In  Dr.  Baird's  report  on  the  state  of 
religion  in  America,  recently  made  to  the  Paris 
Conference  of  Christians,  he  says  :  "  While  the 
population  of  this  country  has  increased  dur- 
ing the  last  half  century  a  little  more  than 
fourfold,  the  number  of  evangelical  churches, 
ministers,  and  communicants  has  increased 
more  than  ninefold."  This  cheering  progress 
in  convertinsf  the  nation  to  Christ  is  the  result 
of  numerous  and  powerful  revivals,  v^'hich 
vv^ere  more  or  less  prevalent  during  the  first 
forty  or  forty-five  years  of  this  period.  But 
for  the  last  ten  years  or  more,  there  has  been 
a  lamentable  dearth  of  revivals.  The  atten- 
tion of  Christians  has  been  sadly  diverted  from 
their  appropriate  w^ork,  and  engrossed  with 
worldly  objects.  Spiritual  slumber  has  gene- 
rally prevailed  ;  and  the  increase  of  the  Church, 
instead  of  continuing,  as  it  had  been,  to  be 
more  titan  double  the  national  increase,  has 
been  about  one-third  less  I  * 


*  Primitive  Piety  Revived.     Boston  Tract  and  Book 
Society  :  1855. 


DAILY    SERVICE    SANCTIONED.  81 

At  this  fearful  ratio  is  the  comparative  num- 
ber of  the  unconverted  in  this  nation,  gaining 
upon  the  (Church,  while  her  members  slumber! 
When  will  they  awake  ? 

How  true  is  it,  that  God  works  while  his 
people  are  wilHng  to  work  with  him,  humbly- 
waiting  upon  him  in  the  ordinances  of  his  own 
appointment.  And  when  they  refuse,  his  Spirit 
is  grieved  and  the  work  stops.  Thus  God 
teaches  his  people  the  necessity  of  cooperating 
with  him  daily  in  the  g''eat  work  of  the  world's 
conversion  to  Chiist,  and  encourages  them 
thus  to  '■  continue  steadfast  in  the  Apostles* 
doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  in  brtaking  of 
bread,  and  in  prayers."  And  by  refusing  to  do 
this  they  have  grieved  the  heart  of  Infinite  Love, 
and  called  forth  his  compassionate  lamentation  : 
"  Oh  !  that  my  people  had  hearkened  unto  me,  and 
Israel  had  walked  in  my  ways  !  I  should  soon 
have  subdued  their  enemies,  and  turnerl  my  hand 
against  their  adversaries.  The  holers  of  the  Lord 
should  have  submitted  themselves  unto  him.^''  And 
again,  "  Oh  !  that  thou  hadst  h  arkened  to  my  com- 
mandments !  then  had  thy  peace  been  like  a  rioer^ 
and  thy  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  a  sea  ;  thy 
6 


82  DAILY    SERVICE     SANCTIONED. 

seed  also  had  been  as  the  sand,  and  the  offspring  of 
thy  boicels  as  the  gravel  thereof ^  (Ps.  81 :  13-15; 
Isa.  48:  18,  19.) 

Here  God  teaches  what  large  attainments 
in  holiness  and  peace  would  have  been  the  leg- 
acy of  his  Church,  and  what  abundant  en- 
largement, in  the  conversion  of  her  enemies 
and  the  multiplication  of  her  seed,  even  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea,  had  she  only  been  faithful  to 
her  covenant  vows ;  and  how  lamentable  and 
heart-rending  are  the  consequences  of  her  un- 
faithfulness and  backsliding  from  God !  By 
this  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been  grieved,  Christ 
has  been  wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends, 
and  millions  of  souls,  for  whom  he  died,  left 
to  plunge  into  eternal  ruin!  ! 

Over  such  a  scene,  no  wonder  the  benevo- 
lent Jesus  wept,  and  poured  out  his  heart  in 
that  bitter  lamentation,  "  Oh !  Jerusalem  ! 
Jerusalem  !  how  often  xcould  I  havr  gathered 
thy  children  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  icings ;  hut  ye  would  not.  Therefore 
your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate  I  "  How 
tremendous  the  responsibility  of  professing 
Christians!  It  is  enough  to  make  an  angel 
tremble ! 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

OBJECTIONS      ANSWERED. 

E  shall  now  briefly  notice  some  objections 
to  the  view  we  have  taken  of  the  Bible 
standard  of  duty,  as  exemplified  in  the  primi- 
tive Christians. 


OBJECTIOlSr   I. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  daily  service  and  com,' 
munion  at  the  Lord's  table  would  so  familiarize 
the  scene  to  us  as  to  counteract  its  appropriate 
effect,  and  become  a  mere  formality . 

We  reply  :  It  might  indeed  be  so  with  the 
hypocrite  and  the  self-deceived,  but  directly 
the  reverse  with  those  who,  by  faith,  "discern 
the  Lord's  body."  And  for  proof  we  appeal 
to  the  nature  and  design  of  the  ordinance,  and 
the  experience  of  the  Church  during  the  first 


84  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

three  and  last  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era.  In  Christ  crucified  for  our  sins,  we  see, 
in  the  strongest  possible  light,  the  infinite  evil 
and  demerit  of  sin,  combined  with  his  amazmg 
love  to  us  sinners.  It  is  this  which  melts  the 
heart  in  penitence,  and  inspires  love  to  Christ 
and  zeal  for  his  glory,  and  tender  compassion 
for  our  perishing  fellow  sinners.  It  is  this 
which  inspires  the  highest  rapture  of  the  re- 
deemed in  heaven,  while  they  sing,  ''Worthy 
the  Lamb !  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  thy  blood."  The  scene 
of  Calvary  will  never  be  forgotten  in  heaven, 
but  viewed  and  celebrated  with  ever  increasing 
interest  as  the  immortal  powers  of  the  redeem- 
ed expand,  and  they  are  able  to  comprehen 
more  and  more  of  the  "  height  and  depth,  anr 
length  and  breadth,  of  the  love  of  Christ,  which, 
passeth  knowledge."  And  it  is  only  by  keeping 
the  eye  of  faith  habitually  fixed  on  the  ci^oss, 
that  penitence,  love,  and  zeal  can  be  perpetu- 
ated in  the  Church  militant.  If  the  cares,  or 
business,  or  pleasures  of  the  world  are  suffered 
so  to  engross  our  thoughts  as  to  divert  them 
from  Christ,  our  zeal  soon  languishes,  our  love 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  85 

grows  cold,  our  conversation  savors  of  earthly, 
not  of  heavenly  things,  and  the  Spirit  is  grieved. 
To  prevent  this,  while  visible  and  tangible 
things  are  constantly  making  their  strong  ap- 
peal to  our  senses,  the  Saviour  has  kindly  fur- 
nished the  most  effectual  antidote. 

"  Well  he  remembers  Calvary, 
Wor  lets  his  saints  forget" — 

while  they  daily  meet  him  at  his  table  in  the 
symbols  of  his  dying  love,  and  listen  to  his 
melting  voice,  "  This  do  in  remembrance  of 
me."  The  primitive  Christians  did  this ;  and 
thus  proved,  by  happy  experience,  the  blessed 
influence  of  daily  service  and  communion  at 
the  Lord's  table,  as  the  most  powerful  means 
of  divine  appointment  to  keep  the  eye  of  their 
faith  steadily  fixed  on  a  crucified  Saviour,  and 
love  to  him  and  each  other  burning  in  their 
hearts.  Hence  it  is  said,  "All  that  believed 
were  together,  and  had  all  things  common,"  re- 
garding their  property  as  all  the  Lord's  and 
themselves  as  his  stewards:  "  They  parted  their 
goods  unto  all  men,  as  every  man  had  need.  And 
great  grace  was  upon  them  all.     And  they  contin- 


86  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

ued  steadfastly/  in  the  Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellow- 
ship, and  in  breaking  of  bread,  and  in  prayers. 
And  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  and  break- 
ing bread  from  house  to  house,  they  did  eat  their 
meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising 
God  and  having  favor  luith  all  the  people.  And 
the  Lord  added  t'O  the  Church  daily  such  as  should 
he  saved." 

This  portrait  of  primitive  Christianity,  drawn 
by  the  pencil  of  inspiration,  continued  true  to 
the  life,  as  we  have  seen,  for  more  than  three 
hundred  years.  While  the  Church  assembled 
daily,  and  renewed  their  vows  and  their 
strength  at  the  Lord's  table,  and  thus  combined 
their  individual  influence  and  efl^orts  for  the 
honor  of  Christ  and  the  advancement  of  his 
cause ;  they  drank  deeply  in  his  spirit,  and 
took  up  the  cross  daily  and  followed  him  in 
self-denial,  for  the  good  of  others.  TertulHan 
says  :  "  Our  brotherly  love  continues,  even  to 
the  division  of  our  estates.  We  think  all  is 
gain  that  is  laid  out  in  doing  good."  Justin 
Martyn  says :  "  We,  who  formerly  valued  our 
money  and  estates  above  all  things  else,  do  now 
put  them  into  common  stock,  and  distribute  to 


OFJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  87 

those  that  are  in  need."  Even  Julian,  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  Christians,  says :  "  By  their 
charity  to  the  poor,  they  beget  the  greatest  ad- 
miration in  the  minds  of  men ;  for  they  give 
themselves  up  to  humanity  and  cliarity.,  and 
thus  strengthen  and  increase  their  wicked  and 
pernicious  party." 

Thurs  they  confounded  their  enemies,  and 
witnessed  the  victories  of  their  Kins  in  subdu- 
ing  the  whole  Roman  Empire  —  then  mistress 
of  the  world  —  in  sweet  subjection  to  his 
peaceful  sceptre,  the  great  majority  devoted 
Christians. 

Justin  Martyn,  who  died  1G5,  speaking  of 
the  triumphs  of  the  gospel,  says :  "  There  is 
not  a  nation,  either  Greek  or  Barbarian,  or 
any  other  name,  even  of  those  who  wander 
in  tribes  or  live  in  tents,  among  whom  prayers 
and  thanksgiving  are  not  offered  to  the  Father 
of  all,  in  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus." 
Clemens,  of  Alexandria,  about  the  year  200, 
says :  "  The  gospel  is  spread  through  the  whole 
world,  in  every  town,  and  village,  and  city, 
converting  whole  houses  and  separate  individ- 
uals." 


88  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

What  a  contrast  in  the  zeal  and  success  of 
the  primitive,  when  compared  with  the  Pro- 
testant Church,  during  an  equal  period  of  the 
last  three  hundred  years  !  With  vastly  supe- 
rior advantages  in  wealth  and  learning,  and 
the  use  of  the  press,  with  steam  power  to  mul- 
tiply Bibles  and  tracts,  and  scatter  broadcast 
the  leaves  of  truth  which  are  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations,  alas !  how  slow  our  progress  in 
reaping  the  great  harvest  of  the  world  for 
Christ !  Even  in  Christendom  the  masses  are 
not  converted,  and  the  millions  are  perishing. 
And  while  six  hundred  millions  in  heathendom, 
sinking  in  the  flames  of  perdition,  are  pouring 
their  death-wail  into  the  ears  of  the  Church, 
and  calling  for  help,  how  few  of  her  members 
are  giving  anything  like  an  earnest  resp')nse 
to  this  urgent  call ! !  The  whole  amount  of 
all  that  is  sriven  by  American  Christians  for 
this  object  is  only  an  average  of  twenty  cents 
to  each  member,  and  is  less  by  one-half  than 
what  is  annually  expended  by  the  devotees  of 
pleasure  in  the  theatres  and  opera-houses  of 
the  single  city  of  New  York!  and  the  poor 
heathen  are  annually  devoting  nearly  as  much 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  9^ 

for  the  support  of  one  heathen  temple  in  Cal- 
cutta as  all  the  Christians  of  America  and 
Great  Britain  are  giving  to  save  these  six 
hundred  miUions  from  eternal  perdition  ! ! 

More  than  half  of  our  professors,  it  is  said, 
give  nothing.  Nor  do  they  pj^ay  that  the 
"  kingdom  of  God  may  come "  to  save  the 
perishing.  For  they  are  seldom  or  never  seen 
in  our  meetings  for  prayer.  Like  Thomas, 
when  the  disciples  are  met  with  Jews  in  their 
midst,  ihei/  are  "  not  there."  Even  a  large 
majority,  in  most  of  our  churches,  are  so  uni- 
formly absent  that  they  are  not  expected  to  be 
there,  except  on  the  Sabbalh,  when  drawn  and 
entertained  by  the  eloquence  or  skill  of  the 
preacher.  Thus  they  manifest  their  lack  ot 
self-denial  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  of  inter- 
est in  devotional  exercises.  And  their  influ- 
ence, as  professors  of  religion,  exerts  a  tremen- 
dous power  to  encourage  the  ungodly,  who 
boldly  proclaim,  in  action,  "  What  is  the  Al- 
mighty, that  we  should  serve  him  ?  or  what 
profit  shall  we  have  if  we  pray  unto  him  ?  " 

A  minority  in  our  churches  generally,  evince 
a  better  spirit ;  counteracting,  in  some  meas- 


90  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

ure,  this  .unhallowed  influence,  by  occasional 
seasons  of  "  special  effort "  in  using  the  means 
of  grace,  attended  with  "refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,"  and  more  or  less  addi- 
tions to  the  Church  of  such  as  shall  be  saved. 
But  these  special  efforts  are  soon  relinquished, 
and  the  world  regains  its  predominating  in- 
fluence. Then,  by  common  consent,  the 
sanctuary  is  closed  during  the  week,  except 
that  from  its  hundred  and  forty-four  hours,  one 
or  two  are  selected  for  evening  service.  This 
service  soon  attracts  little  attention,  and  affords 
unmistakable  evidence  that  the  Spirit  is  griev- 
ed and  the  revival  exchanged  for  a  season  of 
declension,  which,  in  many  instances,  is  Long 
and  distressing  to  the  pious  heart,  the  Church 
being  shorn  of  her  strength  and  diminishing  in 
numbers.  This  has  been  the  general  experi- 
ence of  the  Protestant  Church  for  three  hun- 
dred years. 

Look,  for  instance,  at  the  city  of  New  York. 
For  the  last  ten  years,  which  were  preceded 
by  a  general  revival,  the  statistical  reports 
of  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  and  Methodist 
Churches  show  a  total  decrease  of  one  hundred 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  91 

and  five  members,  while  the  population  has 
more  than  doubled  in  the  same  period.  And 
this  is  but  a  specimen  of  the  American  Church. 
From  the  census  of  1840,  compared  with  that 
of  1850,  we  ascertain  that  the  increase  of  pop- 
ulation in  the  United  States  was  about  thirty- 
five  per  cent,  in  ten  years,  which  is  an  average 
of  three-and-a-half  per  cent,  annually.  During 
that  time  the  increase  of  evans^elical  Christians 
was  about  twenty-four  per  cent.,  or  less  than 
two-and-a-half  per  cent,  annually,  and  less,  by 
one-third,  than  the  increase  of  the  nation.  If 
the  whole  of  this  increase  of  the  Church  were 
from  the  families  of  her  ow^n  members,  (which 
is  by  no  means  the  fact,)  it  would  still  leave 
more  than  one-half  of  the  children  of  God's 
covenant  people  unconiyerted  —  sinking  to  per- 
dition from  the  very  bosom  of  the  Church! 
What  a  sacrifice  is  annually  offered  by  the 
Christian  Church  on  the  altar  of  mammon ! ! 
And  if  her  faith  is  not  sufficient  to  lead  her 
own  children  to  Christ,  and  plead  the  promises 
of  God's  everlasting  covenant  for  their  salva- 
tion, alas !  for  the  millions  of  our  race  who  are 
yet  alien  from  God,  and  dying  without  hope. 


92  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Let  facts  be  compared  in  relation  to  the 
zeal  and  success  of  the  Church  during  the ^r si 
three  and  last  three  centuries  of  the  Christian 
era,  and  they  fully  demonstrate  the  salutary 
influence  of  the  daily  service  and  communion 
at  the  Lord's  table,  and  earnestly  call  for  its 
restoration. 

Let  the  Church  awake  from  her  dream  of 
worldliness  and  '' reiurn  unto  the  Lo/d,"  re- 
suming: her  daily  walk  with  him  in  his  own 
ordinances,  and  thus  adopt  the  Bible  standard 
of  duty,  as  exemplified  in  the  primitive  Christ- 
ians ;  and.  like  them,  she  would  plead  and  re- 
ceive the  promise,  *'/  will  return  unto  yoUy 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Then,  instead  of  the 
fitful  and  often  retrograde  movement  of  the 
last  three  centuries,  her  course  would  be  stead- 
ily onward  and  upward,  shining  brighter  and 
brighter  unto  the  perfect  day  of  her  millenial 
glory. 

And  how  long  ere  she  would  achieve  her 
universal  triumph  in  the  conversion  of  the 
world  to  Christ  ?  It  is  estimated  that  the  Pro- 
testant evangelical  Church,  in  this  country, 
now  numbers  3,765,950  members,  and  actually 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  93 

holds  in  possession  more  than  half  the  wealth 
and  resources  of  the  nation.  With  such  an 
army  enlisted  for  Christ ;  such  immense  re- 
sources at  command  ;  such  facilities  for  evan- 
gelization, and  an  open  door  of  intercommuni- 
cation with  the  whole  world,  what**might  not 
the  American  Church  do,  if  she  were  only 
awake  ? 

Let  the  love  of  gain,  of  worldly  honor,  of 
vain  pleasure,  now  prompting  to  such  indomit- 
able energy  and  immense  sacrifices,  be  sup- 
planted by  the  love  of  Jesus  and  of  perishing 
souls  —  prompting  to  equal  energy  and  sacri- 
fice—  and  might  not  each  member  of  the 
Church  be  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of 
at  least  one  soul  a  year  to  Christ  ?  If  this  were 
done,  her  number  would  be  doubled  annually ; 
and  in  less  than  three  years  the  whole  nation 
would  be  gathered  into  the  fold  of  the  good 
Shepherd !  and  thus  be  prepared  to  go  out  and 
unfurl  the  gospel  banner  in  every  nation,  town, 
and  hamlet  under  heaven,  proclaiming  in  their 
own  tongues  the  wonders  of  redeeming  grace ! ! 
And  i^  the  same  ratio  of  increase  were  contin- 
ued, the  whole  world  would  be  converted  in 


94  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

less  than  nine  years  !  And  is  it  too  much  to 
hope  for,  that  a  Christian,  bought  with  the 
blood  of  Christ,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  fired 
with  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  aided  by  the  com- 
bined prayers  and  influence  of  the  whole 
Church,  thus  engaged  with  him  m  the  same 
work,  might  be  instrumental  in  leading  one 
soul  a  year  to  Christ  ?  Oh !  that  Zion  might 
again  put  on  her  strength,  and  witness  the  vic- 
tories of  her  King!  Shall  this  blessed  work 
be  longer  delayed  ?  Will  the  Church  continue 
to  expend  her  energies  upon  the  things  that 
perish  with  the  using?  Will  her  sons  and  her 
daughters,  born  from  above,  forget  their  birth- 
right, despise  their  proffered  inheritance,  and 
still  lins^er  in  the  wilderness,  lookins;  back  to 
the  house  of  their  bondage  ?  Let  the  watch- 
men, like  Moses  in  the  camp  of  Israel,  hear 
the  voice  of  God,  and  *'  speak  to  the  people  that 
they  go  forward.'' 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  96 


OBJECTION  11. 

In  the  present  state  of  the  Church,  it  would 
be  discouraging  and  worse  than  useless,  to  urge 
a  standard  of  duty  so  elevated  as  that  exem- 
plified by  the  Apostles  and  primitive  Christ- 
ians. What  hope  is  there  of  securing  its 
adoption? 

We  reply  :  If  it  is  the  Bible  standard,  there 
should  be  no  fear  of  consequences.  "  He  that 
hath  my  word^  let  him  speah  my  word  faithfully. 
What  is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat,  saith  the  Lord  ? 
Is  not  my  word  like  as  a  fre,  and  as  a  hammer 
that  hreaketh  the  rock  in  pieces  .^"  "  So  shall  my 
word  be  that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth  :  it  shall 
not  return  unto  me  void  ;  but  it  shall  accomplish 
that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the 
thing  whereto  I  sent  it."  To  secure  this  result, 
Christ  sends  forth  his  servants,  not  alone,  or 
in  reliance  on  their  own  strength  or  eloquence  ; 
but  with  the  assurance,  "  Zo  /  /  am  with  j/ou 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world ;  "  "  all 
POWER  is  given  unto  me,  both  in  heaven  and  earth. 
60  ye  THEREFORE  and  disciple  all  nations,  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  /  have 
commanded  you." 


96  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

The  first  preachers  sent  forth  with  this  com- 
mission and  promise  found  the  piety  of  the 
Church,  then  existing  in  the  Jewish  nation,  at 
a  far  lower  ebb  than  it  is  now,  and  the  whole 
heathen  world  mad  upon  their  idols.  But 
wherever  they  unfurled  the  gospel  banner,  the 
true  worshipers  of  God,  attracted  by  a  power 
divine,  rallied  around  it,  converts  were  multi- 
plied, and  the  Bible  standard  of  duty  was 
erected  and  maintained  for  centuri-es,  amid 
the  combined  opposition  of  earth  and  hell. 

Let  the  same  means  be  used,  with  the  same 
reliance  on  the  presence  and  power  of  the 
Great  Head  of  the  Church,  and  not  only  will 
the  same  results  be  witnessed,  but  results  still 
greater  and  more  glorious,  in  proportion  to 
our  vastly  increased  facilities  for  sending  the 
gospel  to  the  destitute  and  evangelizing  the 
world. 

Of  this  we  are  assured,  not  only  by  induc- 
tion from  the  past,  but  by  the  promises  and 
prophetic  visions  of  the  future,  and  their  actual 
fulfilment  in  the  recent  wonders  of  grace  which 
God  has  wrought  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  It 
is  written,  "  The  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law." 


OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED.  97 

Our  missionaries  found  them  waiting;  and 
soon  after  thev  had  learned  their  lan^uajre  and 
begun  to  proclaim  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ,  the  Holy  Spirit  applied  the  truth,  and 
the  dark-minded  heathen  began  to  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  They  sought  retire- 
ment in  the  fields  to  pray.  They  met  together 
to  pray.  Their  neighbors  called  them  "  the 
praying  people.''  As  such,  they  found  the 
promise  fulfilled:  "T^FAosoeuer  shall  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved."  Saved 
themselves,  they  sought  salvation  for  others, 
and  established  and  maintained  daily  meetings 
for  christian  fellowship,  instruction,  and  prayer. 
And  God  has  held  them  up  as  an  example  to 
the  world  of  a  continued  revival  in  the  Church,- 
and  the  rapid  spread  of  the  gospel  in  the  con- 
version of  sinners  to  Christ. 

A  missionary  who  had  returned  on  a  visit, 
after  spending  twelve  years  with  them,  stated 
to  the  writer,  a  few  months  since,  that  "  their 
general  custom  is,  besides  family  worship  and 
prayer  three  times  a  day  in  the  closet,  to  arise 
every  morning  at  four  o'clock  and  assemble 
for  public  worship  —  the  males  in  one  apart- 
7 


98  OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED. 

rnent  and  the  females  in  another — and,  after 
spending  an  hour  in  prayer  and  singing,  they 
come  together  and  continue  the  service  half 
or  three  quarters  of  an  hour  longer  ;  then  sep- 
arate, and  meet  again  for  the  same  purpose 
in  the  evening.  And  so  powerful  is  th-e  influ- 
ence of  these  daily  services  in  keeping  alive 
the  spirit  of  devotion,  that  no  one,  either  male 
or  female,  who  cherishes  a  hope  in  Christ,  is 
ever  known  to  decline  leading  in  prayer  when 
favored  with  opportunity.  Such  is  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  faith  in  the  promises  that  when 
they  plead  for  an  impenitent  friend  or  neighbor, 
and  invite  him  to  Christ,  they  expect  his  con- 
version. And  they  are  not  disappointed.  God 
hears  and  answers  their  daily  and  earnest  sup- 
plications, and  they  witness  the  progress  of 
his  work."  In  one  of  those  islands  is  the  largest 
Church  in  the  world  —  a  church  of  more  than 
six  thousand  members !  under  the  care  of  one 
missionary.  And,  in  all  the  islands,  a  very 
large  majority  of  the  native  population  are 
hopefully  converted  to  Christ  and  brought  into 
communion  with  the  Church.  And  the  genu- 
ineness of  their  religion  is  demonstrated,  Hke 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  99 

the  primitive  Christians',  by  its  abundant  fruits 
of  benevolence  and  active  charity  —  even 
such  as  attended  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  They  contribute 
more  largely,  in  proportion  to  their  means,  for 
the  support  of  gospel  institutions,  both  at  home 
and  abroad,  than  any  other  portion  of  the 
Christian  Church. 

All  this  has  been  accomplished  in  less  than 
thirty-five  years,  by  the  blessing  of  God  on  the 
daily  services  of  his  people.  And  if  a  stand- 
ard of  duty  thus  elevated  can  be  established 
and  maintained  among  people  converted  from 
the  lowest  depths  of  paganism,  why  despair  of 
its  adoption  in  this  land  of  the  pilgrims,  and 
throughout  Christendom,  and  in  every  part  of 
the  heathen  world  ? 

Let  ministers  of  the  gospel  hold  up  the  Bible 
standard  of  duty  as  exemplified  by  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  and  kindly  and  earnestly  invite 
their  people  to  rally  around  it;  let  the  disci- 
ples of  Jesus  imitate  the  example  of  that  little 
band  who  came  down  from  the  mount  of 
Christ's  ascension,  and  bowed  together  around 
the  mercy  seat  in  that  upper  room,  to  plead 


100  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

for  the  promised  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  let 
them  consecrate  themselves  and  their  all  to 
Christ,  in  a  daily  walk  with  God  in  his  own 
ordinances,  and  as  sure  as  God  hears  and  an- 
swers prayer,  and  prov^es  faithful  to  his  promi- 
ses, they  would  soon  be  filled  with  the  Spirit 
and  go  "  everywhere  preaching  the  word,"  and 
find  sinners  crying  for  n>ercy  and  rejoicing  in 
Christ. 

Regarding  this  daily  service  as  of  divine  ap- 
pointment, and  pledging  themselves  and  the 
converts  to  maintain  it,  the  good  work  of  con- 
version, growth  in  grace,  and  preparation  for 
heaven,  would  doubtless  be  perpetuated  until 
time  shall  end,  and  the  scenes  of  the  judgment 
open  on  the  world. 


OBJECTION  III 

It  may  be  said.  If  the  millenium  is  to  be  in- 
troduced and  perpetuated  by  restoring  the 
daily  service  and  communion  of  the  primitive 
Church,  how  is  it  possible  for  ministers  to  sus- 
tain the  amount  of  labor  that  will  devolve  up- 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  101 

on  them,  especially  in  this  age  of  literature 
and  refinement?  With  all  the  other  labors 
and  cares  of  the  pastoral  office,  can  they  fur- 
nish beaten  oil  for  the  sanctuary,  and  preach 
and  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  every  day  ? 
In  meeting  this  objection,  two  things  may 
be  said.  In  the  first  place  :  Let  a  minister,  in 
addition  to  the  appropriate  moral  and  mental 
culture,  be  a  man  "  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  and  sustained  by  the  united  prayers 
and  co-operation  of  the  Church,  "full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  he  will  easily 
perform  an  amount  of  labor  utterly  impossible, 
and  which  would  crush  him  to  the  earth  if  left 
to  his  own  unaided  energies.  This  is  proved 
by  numerous  facts  in  the  history  of  the  Church, 
and  accords,  more  or  less,  with  the  experience 
of  all  ministers  and  christians  accustomed  to 
labor  in  revivals.  Besides  this,  if  the  Spirit 
were  poured  out,  and  a  revival  commenced 
and  perpetuated  like  that  of  Pentecost,  with 
our  facilities  for  education,  ministers  in  abund- 
ance would  soon  be  raised  up,  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  and  richly  furnished  for  their  work. 
Thus  a  band  of  associate  pastors,  like  that  of 


102  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

Ephesus,  would  be  found  as  co-laborers  in 
every  church;  and  being  sustained  by  the 
united  prayers  and  co-operation  of  the  whole 
membership,  it  would  doubtless  be  found  much 
easier  to  keep  up  the  interest  of  a  daili/  service 
than  even  that  of  a  weekly  service,  where  the 
minister  is  left  to  strus^orle  alone  in  the  midst 
of  a  slumbering  Church  and  a  stupid  commu- 
nity. And,  until  such  aid  is  furnished,  minis- 
ters will  stand  approved  of  their  Master,  &o  far 
as  they  hold  up  the  true  gospel  standard,  and 
urge  its  claims  upon  the  Church  and  the  world 
as  God  shall  give  them  strength. 


OBJECTION  IV. 

The  Christian  may  "  seek  first  the  kingdom 
of  God,"  and  thus  secure  the  promise,  "all 
things  needful  shall  be  added,"  without  devot- 
ing one-half  of  his  time  to  duties  strictly  reli- 
gious, in  dictinction  from  those  that  are  secular. 
For  he  may  and  ought  to  serve  God  in  every- 
thing. "  Whether  ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  what- 
soever ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."    He 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  103 

may  therefore  regard  supremely  the  glory  of 
God  and  a  treasure  in  heaven,  while  he  is 
laboring  for  his  daily  bread. 

Very  true  ;  but  if  he  thus  labors  on  the  Sab- 
bath, or  at  any  other  time  which  ought  to  be 
devoted  exclusively  to  prayer,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  or  the  religious  instruction  of  his 
children,  or  any  other  direct  effort  to  save 
souls,  he  is  not  in  the  way  of  his  duty.  To  do 
one  thing,  when  Christ  requires  us  to  be  doing 
another,  is  not  the  way  to  please  him  or  se- 
cure his  promised  blessing.  And  the  question 
at  issue  is  not  whether  we  may  serve  God  in 
our  secular  business  —  for  this  is  admitted  by 
all  —  but  what  proportion  of  time  should  be 
ordinarily  devoted  to  it  ?  Do  we  hear  the  re- 
ply :  "  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor,  but  the  sev- 
enth thou  shalt  rest,"  and  devote  to  the  means 
of  religious  culture  ?  *  Well,  be  it  so,  that  the 
Sabbath  is  thus  diligently  observed  by  Christ- 

*  The  writer  once  had  an  Elder  in  the  Church  iinder 
his  charge,  who,  for  a  time,  maintained  this  view*  of  the 
fourth  commandment  —  a  circumstance  which  has  event- 
aially  led  him  to  prepare  this  Rssay  and  oflfer  it  to  tho 
public. 


104  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

ians.  But  suppose  that,  during  the  week,  they 
have  no  closet,  no  family  altar,  no  searching 
of  the  scriptures,  no  assembling  for  social  wor- 
ship and  edification,  (which,  alas!  is  sadly 
characteristic  of  too  many  professors,)  while 
they  spend  their  whole  time  and  strength  in 
worldly  business.  How,  I  ask,  could  such 
professors  oe  distinguished  from  the  mere  ser- 
vants of  mammon?  Surely,  this  is  not  the 
way  to  please  Christ  and  promote  bis  kingdom 
on  earth.  None  will  pretend  it.  The  ques- 
tion returns,  then,  with  interest.  How  should 
our  time  be  divided  between  those  duties  which 
are  secular  and  those  which  are  strictly  reli- 
gious, as  distinguished  in  the  fourth  command- 
ment ? 

Were  an  equal  amount  of  time  devoted  to 
each,  as  required  by  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
thus  expressed  by  the  poet : 

"  Eight  hours  for  labor. 
Eight  for  devotion  given. 
Eight  for  refreshment ; 
But  all  for  God  and  heaven  " — 

would  not  God  abundantlv  bless  the  lal:o  s  of 


OFJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  105 

his  people,  both  for  their  bodily  and  spiritual 
good,  and  for  the  more  rapid  progress  of  his 
cause  on  earth  ?     Who  can  doubt  this  ? 


OBJECTION   V. 

All  are  not  gifted  with  equal  energy  and 
skill  in  business,  or  engaged  in  occupations 
equally  productive ;  and  if  the  poor  brother, 
with  a  limited  income,  were  to  spend  one-half 
of  his  time  in  religious  exercises,  how  could  he 
provide  for  himself  and  a  dependent  family  ? 

We  answer:  If  the  Church  were  thus  to 
improve  the  means  of  grace,  with  humble  and 
prayerful  dependence  on  the  blessing  of  God, 
it  would  expand  her  bosom  with  enlarged  be- 
nevolence, and  result  as  with  the  Israelites  in 
the  wilderness,  when  they  went  out  to  gather 
manna.  "  He  that  gathered  much  had  nothing 
over,  and  he  that  gathered  httle  had  no  lack." 
This  was  the  result  in  the  Christian  Church, 
while  she  maintained  her  daily  walk  with  God 
in  his  own  ordinances.  "There  was  none 
among  them  that  lacked,  for  distribution  was 


106  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

made  unto  every  man  as  he  had  need."  But 
should  such  a  distribution  of  the  avails  of  labor 
meet  the  temporal  wants  of  the  Church,  still 
another  obstacle  may  be  urged,  even  by  those 
who  are  deeply  interested  in  the  great  work 
of  the  world's  conversion  to  God. 
It  may  be  stated  as  in 

OBJECTION  VI. 

The  Christian  Church  is  in  circumstances 
very  different  from  the  Jewish.  They  were 
required  to  provide  only  for  their  own  wants 
as  a  distinct  people,  and  sustain  the  institutions 
of  religion  among  themselves.  But  Christ 
opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles,  and 
required  his  Church  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature,  and  plant  its  institutions  in 
every  land.  A  great  part  of  this  work  remains 
to  be  done.  Six  hundred  millions  are  still  per- 
ishing without  the  gospel.  If  this  work  were 
all  accomplished  —  if  the  Church  of  Christ 
filled  the  earth,  adorned  with  the  beauties  of 
holiness,  and  rejoicing  in  the  constant  smile  of 
divine  favor  —  from  four  to  six  or  eight  hours 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  107 

in  a  day  of  labor  for  the  body,  might  be  all- 
sufficient.  But  in  the  present  state  of  the 
world,  surely  more  than  this  is  required ;  and 
without  it,  how  can  the  great  work  of  evangel- 
izins^  the  nations  be  carried  forward  ? 

Answer :  Easily  —  with  the  blessing  of  God. 
And  for  the  proof,  I  appeal  to  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  past.  We  have  seen  that  God  re- 
leased his  ancient  people  from  toil  for  the  body 
one-half  of  the  time  ;  and  yet  he  required  of 
them  one-half  of  their  annual  income  to  sus- 
tain religious  ordinances,  and  for  the  relief  of 
the  poor.  By  these  enactments  God  designed 
to  bring  his  people  into  habitual  communion 
with  himself,  and  cultivate  in  them  the  spirit 
of  enlarged  benevolence,  that  they  might  par- 
ticipate with  himself  in  the  luxury  of  doing 
good,  and  thereby  be  enabled,  from  their  own 
experience,  to  bear  testimony  to  a  selfish  world 
that  "  it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive.'' 
And  his  providential  arrangements  with  his 
people  were  directed  to  the  same  end.  Hence 
he  told  them,  "  The  poor  shall  never  cease  out 
of  the  land.  And  thou  shalt  not  harden  thine 
heart  nor  shut  thine  hand  against  thy  poor 


108  OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED. 

brother.  But  thou  shalt  open  thine  hand  wide 
unto  him.  Thou  shalt  surely  give  him,  and 
thine  heart  shall  not  be  grieved  when  thou  giv- 
est  unto  him,  because  that  for  this  thing  the 
Lord  thy  God  shall  bless  thee  in  all  thy 
works,  and  in  all  that  thou  puttest  thine  hand 
unto."  This  promise  secured  to  them  the 
blessing  of  God  in  all  they  did,  both  for  the 
soul  and  body,  for  time  and  eternity.  Thus, 
while  God  required  of  his  people  the  spirit  of 
enlarged  benevolence,  he  guaranteed  to  them 
in  the  way  of  obedience  both  the  means  and 
the  opportunity  for  its  daily  cultivation.  And 
his  design  was  to  educate  them  into  his  own 
blessed  image,  and  thus  raise  them  to  partici- 
pate in  his  own  infinite  feUcity  —  the  felicity 
of  doing  good.  Hence  in  obedience  they  were 
richly  blessed. 

Now  look  at  another  fact,  recorded  in  New 
Testament  history.  The  spirit  of  enlarged  be- 
nevolence required  of  the  ancient  Church  was 
actually  exemplified  in  the  primitive  Christians, 
and  the  promised  blessing  was  realized  in  their 
daily  experience.  While  "  daily  in  the  temple 
and  in  every  house,  they  ceased  not  to  teach 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  109 

and  preach  Jesus  Christ,"  and  to  commemo- 
rate his  dying  love,  multitudes  were  ''daily 
added  to  the  Church  of  such  as  should  be 
saved."  They  were  also  blessed  with  abundant 
provision  for  their  temporal  wants.  It  is  said, 
"Great  grace  was  upon  them  all.  And  all 
that  believed  were  together,  and  had  all  things 
common,  and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods, 
and  parted  them  to  all  men  as  every  man  had 
need.  And  they,  continuing  daily  with  one 
accord  in  the  temple,  and  in  breaking  bread 
from  house  to  house,  did  eat  their  meat  with 
gladness  and  singleness  of  heart,  praising  God 
and  having  favor  with  all  the  people."  And 
so  long  as  "  all  that  believed  were  together, 
continuing  daily  to  unite  in  the  worship  of 
God  in  Christ,  and  commemorate  his  dying 
love,  their  earthly  possessions  and  all  the  avails 
of  their  daily  labor  were  cheerfully  consecrated 
to  him,  and  held  in  trust  as  a  common  fund  to 
be  dealt  out  "  to  every  man  as  he  had  need." 
Faithful  to  their  trust  as  the  stewards  of  Christ, 
there  was  no  call  for  miracles  to  supply  the 
daily  wants  of  his  household.  His  treasury 
was  kept  full  and  overflowing,  even  to  his  ene- 


110  OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED. 

mies  as  well  as  h\s  friends.  For  this  we  have 
their  united  testimony  in  chapt.  III.,  pp.  41-44. 

Thus,  in  the  figurative  language  of  Paul  to 
the  Hebrews,  (13  :  10-16.)  Jesus  Christ  was 
set  forth  as  an  altar  in  the  primitive  Church, 
on  which  two  sorts  of  sacrifices  were  daily 
offered,  viz.,  "  the  sacrifice  of  praise,"  includ- 
ing all  the  acts  of  devotion,  and  the  sacrifice 
of  charitable  actions.  Neither  can  be  accept- 
ed alone  ;  but  when  both  are  united,  "  with 
such  sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased."  With 
such  sacrifices  his  people  were  richly  blessed 
for  more  than  three  centuries,  and  their  influ- 
ence was  powerful ;  rapidly  diffusing  the  savor 
of  the  gospel  over  the  whole  earth. 

With  such  sacrifices,  the  cause  of  Christ  is 
destined  again  to  rise,  and  gain  that  compete, 
universal,  and  permanent  triumph  predicted  in 
the  72d  Psalm,  "  when  prayer  shall  be  made  for 
him  continually,  and  daily  shall  he  h^  praised. 
And  to  him  shall  be  given  of  the  gold  of  Sheba. 
The  kings  of  the  islands  shall  bring  presents, 
and  offer  gifts.  Yea,  all  kings  shall  fall  down 
before  him ;  all  nations  shall  serve  him.  His 
name  shall  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun, 


OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED.  Ill 

and  men  shall  be  blessed  in  him.  All  nations 
shall  call  him  blessed." 

Let  the  Church  now  adopt  the  Bible  stand- 
ard of  duty  as  exemplified  in  the  primitive 
Christians,  and  resume  her  daily  walk  with 
God  in  his  own  ordinances,  consecrating  time, 
and  property,  and  personal  effort  to  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and  who  can  doubt  that  not  only  the 
poor  would  be  provided  for  and  gospel  institu- 
tions sustained  at  home,  but  missionary  effort 
would  be  increased  a  thousand  fold  for  the 
world's  conversion  to  God. 

The  danger  of  accumulated  wealth,  "kept 
for  the  owners  thereof  to  their  hurt,"*  would 
be  regarded,  as  it  really  is,  an  almost  insur- 
mountable obstacle  in  the  way  of  salvation. 
"  How  hardly  (says  Christ)  shall  they  that  have 
riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God !  For  it 
is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle's 
eye,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God  " —  an  obstacle  so  great  that  to  remove 
it  (he  declares)  is  impossible  with  men,  and 
only  possible  even  with  God.f 


Eccl.  5  :  13.    t  Luke  18  :  24-27. 


112  OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED. 

If  this  teaching  of  Christ  were  really  behev- 
ed,  who  could  raake   it  the  great  business  of 
his  life  to  heap  up  riches  for  himself  and  his 
children  ?  like  expending  his  time  and  energy 
in  "  building  up  a  great  wall  to  keep  his  whole 
family  out  of  heaven."     How  can  this  wall  be 
broken  down  —  this  mighty  obstacle  removed 
—  that  the  way  to  heaven  may  be  as  easy  to 
the  rich  as  the  poor  ?    Though  impossible  with 
men,  one  way  in  which  it  is  possible  with  God 
is  to  take  away  their  wealth,  that  they  may  no 
longer   be    tempted   "  to    trust    in    uncertain 
riches,"   and   be  led  to   "trust  in  the  hving 
God."     Many  who  were  once  rich  have  been 
thus   saved,    "yet   so  as   by   fire."     Another 
method  is  to  press  their  conscience  with  the 
claims  of  the  gospel,  and  give  them  no  rest  until 
they  yield  to  the  divine  will,  and  cheerfully 
consecrate  their  wealth  to  Christ,  consenting 
to  be  only  stewards  in  his  household,  (like  Jo- 
seph in  the  house  of  Potiphar,)  using  the  goods 
entrusted  to  them  for  the  honor  of  his  name 
and  the  advancement  of  his  cause  in  the  world. 
Had  the  young  man  who  came  to  Christ  seek- 
ing direction  in  the  way  to  eternal  life  consent- 


OBJECTIONS    ANSWERED.  113 

/ 

ed  to  do  this,  he  would  not  have  gone  away 
sorrowful,  but  rather  rejoicing  in  the  prospect 
of  abundant  usefulness  opened  to  him  in  this 
world,  and  of  inexhaustible  treasures  and  a 
crown  of  glory  unfading  in  heaven. 

Were  this  doctrine  of  stewardship  now  to 
control  the  practice  of  the  Church,  as  it  did 
the  primitive  Christians,  instead  of  depending 
mostly,  as  we  now  do,  on  the  contributions  of 
the  poor  and  those  of  limited  means,  the  abund- 
ance of  the  rich  would  flow  into  the  treasury 
of  the  Lord,  and  soon  furnish  means  sufficient 
to  publish  the  gospel  to  all  the  perishing  mill- 
ions of  our  fallen  race. 

From  such  a  door  of  escape  from  their  peril, 
and  of  abundant  usefulness,  open  to  the  rich, 
we  fear  indeed  that  many  now  in  the  Church, 
like  that  young  man,  will  turn  away  sorrowful, 
preferring  earthly  to  heavenly  treasure.  But 
with  the  Bible  standard  of  duty  maintained  in 
the  Church,  they  would  no  longer  delude  them- 
selves with  the  vain  hope  of  heaven,  nor  dis- 
honor Christ,  as  his  professed  friends,  by  be- 
stowing upon  his  cause  a  mere  pittance  of 
their  income,  while  they  withhold  their  abund- 
8 


114  OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED. 

ance  for  their  own  selfish  purposes.  Nor  would 
any  of  the  children  of  the  covenant  be  led,  by 
the  example  of  their  parents  and  other  church- 
members,  to  make  gain  their  god,  or  squander 
the  goods  entrusted  to  their  stewardship  in 
useless  expenditure  upon  their  lusts.  But,  un- 
der the  influence  of  a  daily  walk  with  God  in 
his  own  ordinances,  they  would  be  early  led  to 
Jesus,  and  filled  with  his  Spirit,  and  trained  up 
in  the  good  work  of  the  Lord ;  like  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  testifying  to  all  around  them, 
"  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,  because 
we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then 
were  all  dead ;  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that 
they  which  live  should  not  henceforth  live  unto 
themselves,  but  unto  him  that  died  for  them  and 
rose  again."  Thus  constrained  by  the  love  of 
Christ,  they  would  go  or  send  out  into  all  the 
world,  teaching  and  exemplifying  his  blessed 
gospel,  and  "  daily  w^alking  in  all  his  command- 
ments and  ordinances  blameless." 

With  a  standard  of  piety  thus  active,  pure, 
and  elevated,  the  Church  of  Christ  would  "  look 
forth  as  the  morning,"  breathing  the  fragrance 
of  light  and  love  over  all  the  nations,  and  they 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  115 

would  soon  be  seen  flowing^  to  him,  "  brinmnfr 
their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them  to  beau- 
tify the  place  of  his  sanctuary,"  and  make  his 
name  glorious  in  all  the  earth. 

Not  in  vain  did  the  Lord  of  glory  come 
down  and  "redeem  us  to  God  by  his  blood." 
Not  in  vain  did  he  reascend  to  occupy  the 
mediatorial  throne  as  "  Head  over  all  things  to 
his  Church."  The  object  of  his  mission  will 
assuredly  be  accomplished ;  for  he  is  "  able  to 
do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask 
or  think."  Already,  under  the  guidance  of 
his  infinite  wisdom,  the  improvements  in  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  the  progress 
of  labor-saving  inventions,  have  lightened  our 
toil  for  the  body  by  performing  the  work  of 
many  days  in  one.  And  in  a  vastly  greater 
ratio  have  they  lightened  our  toil  for  the  bread 
of  life.  What  if  all  our  Bibles,  and  tracts,  and 
religious  papers,  and  books  now  flooding  the 
world,  were  to  be  written  out  with  a  pen,  as 
in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  and  primitive 
Christians  ?  How  vast  the  labor  of  furnishing 
the  bread  of  life  to   the  perishing  millions  of 


ll6  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

our  race !  But  with  the  power  of  the  press, 
and  the  improvements  connected  with  it,  once 
the  lahor  o^  years  is  now  performed  in  a  day  ! 
And  when  the  Church  shall  awake  and  exert 
all  her  energies  for  Christ,  he  will  soon  triumph 
over  opposition,  and  introduce  the  millenial 
glory  of  his  reign.  The  earth  will  again  bloom 
in  the  beauty  of  Eden,  and  bring  forth  in 
abundance,  like  the  garden  of  the  Lord.    Yes, 

"  Sure  as  his  tnitli  shall  last. 
To  Zion  shall  be  given 
The  brighest  glories  earth  can  yield. 
And  brighter  bliss  of  heaven." 

Away,  then,  with  our  unbelief.  Be  it  the 
great  business  of  the  Church  here  to  prepare 
herself  and  others  for  a  better  and  brighter 
world !  Let  her  example  correspond  with  her 
creed,  and  thus  bear  convincing  testimony  that 
the  soul  is  man's  chief  concern.  Then,  under 
the  government  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  no 
miracle  will  be  needed  to  deliver  our  whole 
race  from  all  that  oppressive  care  and  toil  for 
the  body  which  interferes  with  the  intellectual 


•  OBJECTIONS     ANSWERED.  11*7 

and  moral  culture  of  the  immortal  spirit,  its 
eminent  preparation  for  heaven,  and  for  its 
onward  progress  in  knowledge  and  happiness 
through  interminable  ages ! 


CHAPTER   IX. 

INFERENCES. 

WHY  REVIVALS  DECLINE 

IN  reviewing  this  subject  we  learn, 
I.  Why  it  is  that  revivals  are  of  so  short 
continuance,  and  often  succeeded   by  a  long 
night  of  spiritual  slumber. 

It  is  not  because  the  means  of  God's  appoint- 
ment are  insufficient  to  keep  the  Church 
awake  and  active,  growing  in  grace,  and  con- 
stantly gathering  the  spiritual  harvest ;  nor  is 
it  because  God  ever  fails  to  bless  those  means, 
when  faithfully  used.  "  His  arm  is  not  short- 
ened or  his  ear  heavy,"  that  he  cannot  hear 
and  constantly  bless  the  labors  of  his  people. 
And  hence  he  assures  them,  "  They  that  wait 
upon  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength. 
They  shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles ; 
they  shall  run,  and  not  he  weary ;  they  shall 


INFERENCES.  119 

walk  and  not  faint."  A  cloud  of  witnesses 
have  testified,  from  their  own  experience,  to 
the  truth  of  this.  Job  says :  "  He  that  hath 
clean  hands  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger." 
Paul  says :  "  We  all  with  open  face  beholding 
as  in  a  glass  the  glory  o-f  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image,  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as 
by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  For  this  cause  we 
faint  not;  even  though  our  outward  man  perish, 
yet  our  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day." 
This  is  the  natural  effect  of  a  daily  walk  with 
God  in  his  own  ordinances.  No  one  can  thus 
abide  in  communion  with  Christ,  beholding  his 
glory  and  having  fellowship  with  him  in  his  self- 
denial  for  the  good  of  others,  without  finding 
his  soul  invigorated  and  transformed  more  and 
more  into  his  holy  image.  Hence  the  exhorta- 
tion to  be  "  always  abounding  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord ;  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your 
labor  is  not  vain  in  the  Lord."  All  who  have 
tried  it  know  this.  And,  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  all.  Inspiration  declares,  "  He  that 
goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  precious 
seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  rejoicing, 
bringing  his  sheaves  with  him."     A  state  of 


120  INFERENCES. 

revival  is  therefore  the  natural  state  of  the 
Church.  She  is  necessarily  in  that  state,  while 
walking  with  God,  steadfast  in  his  covenant. 
Why,  then,  is  not  the  Church  always  found  in 
this  state,  pjrowing  in  grace  and  gathering  the 
spiritual  harvest  ?  It  is  because  she  has  fallen 
away  from  the  Bible  standard  of  Christian 
duty.  In  devoting  themselves  to  Christ,  her 
members  did  not  even  intend,  like  the  primi- 
tive Christians,  so  to  renounce  the  world  and 
take  up  the  cross  as  to  become  daihj  laborers 
for  Christ  in  gathering  his  spiritual  harvest ; 
or,  if  they  did,  they  failed  to  carry  out  this  in- 
tention, and,  being  led  by  those  in  the  Church 
before  them,  they  entered  upon  the  fruitless 
effort  to  serve  God  and  mammon ;  and  soon 
found  they  had  left  their  "  first  love  "  and  been 
drawn  away  by  the  cares  of  this  world  and  its 
perishing  vanities.  If  truly  converted,  they 
deplore  their  backslidden  state  and  unfitness  to 
pray  and  labor  for  the  good  of  souls.  And 
they  sometimes  struggle  to  regain  the  freshness 
of  their  first  love.  But  they  struggle  almost 
in  vain,  not  being  aware  of  the  true  cause  of 
the  difficulty.     And  why  ?     They  have  grown 


INFERENCES.  121 

up  under  the  impression  that  man's  chief  busi- 
ness in  this  Hfe  is  to  take  care  of  the  body  and 
labor  for  those  things  which  perish  with  the 
using.  This  impression  has  been  strongly  fix- 
ed in  their  minds  by  witnessing,  from  their 
earliest  recollection,  the  example  of  their  pa- 
rents and  of  church-members  generally.  Fol- 
lowing this  example,  they  find  a  constant  tend- 
ency to  backslide  and  become  worldly-minded. 
And  they  witness  and  deplore  the  same  in 
others  as  well  as  in  themselves.  But  still  they 
continue  their  business  arrangements,  not  after 
the  model  of  the  apostolic  Church,  nor  even 
of  a  Church  now  in  a  revival  state,  but  rather 
in  accordance  with  a  state  of  spiritual  slumber, 
devoting  but  mere  fragments  of  their  tim«  and 
strength  to  the  momentous  concerns  of  the 
soul. 

Hence,  when  aroused  by  an  influence  sent 
down  from  above,  and  brought  into  a  revival 
state,  they  are  led  by  the  Spirit  to  engage  more 
frequently,  as  well  as  more  fervently,  in  the 
private  and  public  exercises  of  religious  wor- 
ship and  edification.  This  increased  effort  for 
the  honor  of  Christ  in  the  salvation  of  souls 


122  INFERENCES. 

breaks  in  upon  their  business  arrangements, 
and  they  soon  find  their  wordly  cares  so  press- 
ing that  many  are  led  to  think  it  their  duty  to 
*'  forsake  the  assembUng  of  themselves  togeth- 
er," that  they  may  meet  the  calls  of  business 
and  take  care  of  their  property.  They  wish 
the  revival  to  continue ;  hope  it  will  —  but 
MUST  he  excused,  for  they  have  neither  time 
nor  strength  to  attend  the  meetings  or  put 
forth  the  efforts  which  God  is  blessing  for  the 
progress  of  his  work.  Their  example  counter- 
acts the  influence  of  others,  and  weakens  their 
faith.  And  thus,  by  degrees,  they  return  to 
their  former  routine  of  christian  duty,  and  set- 
tle down  at  ease,  with  that  amount  of  time  and 
effort  devoted  to  the  means  of  grace  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  which  the  experience  of 
ages,  and  their  own  experience,  has  proved 
insufficient  either  to  keep  the  Church  awake  or 
to  secure  the  blessing  of  God  in  sjathering  the 
spiritual  harvest. 

No  wonder  the  Spirit  is  grieved,  and  so  few 
are  converted,  and  converts  lose  their  first  love, 
and  such  long,  dark  nights  of  spiritual  slumber 
brood  over  the  Churches ;  while  the  millions, 
even  in  Christendom,  are  perishing  I 


INFERENCES.  123 


MEANS  OF  A  CONTINUED  REVIVAL. 

We  learn, 

2.  When  to  expect  a  continued  revival  in 
the  Church  —  a  revival  which  shall  result  in 
subduing  the  whole  world  to  the  sceptre  of 
Christ,  and  perpetuate  his  triumphant  reign  on 
earth.  This  happy  period,  foretold  by  the 
prophets,  will  assuredly  come ;  but  not  until 
Christians  come  out  from  the  world  and  re- 
model all  their  arrangjements  of  business  and 
pleasure,  on  the  principle  of  their  professed  be- 
lief that  the  soul,  and  its  preparation  for  eter- 
nity, is  man's  chief  concern  and  the  great  bus- 
iness of  his  present  life.  Then  they  will  have 
time  and  strength  daily  to  wait  upon  the  Lord 
in  his  ordinances,  as  the  primitive  Christians 
did ;  and  lay  themselves  out  on  the  altar  of 
God  as  living  sacrifices,  devoted  to  prayer  and 
effort  for  the  world's  conversion  to  Christ. 
Then  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christianity  will 
reanimate  the  Church.  She  will  put  oflf  her 
sack  cloth,  in  which  she  has  mourned  for  1260 
years,  and  again  put  on  the  armor  of  light  and 


124  INFERENCES. 

the  garments  of  salvation.  "  The  glory  of  the 
Lord  will  be  seen  upon  her."  She  will  "  look 
forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the  moon,  clear 
as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  ban- 
ners." The  scene  of  Pentecost  will  revisit  the 
earth,  and  overspread  the  world.  And,  under 
the  Spirit's  influence,  "  poured  upon  all  flesh," 
the  triumphant  reign  of  Christ  will  be  intro- 
duced and  perpetuated,  and  earth  become  the 
vestibule  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE     APPEAL. 

WE  close  with  an  appeal  to  Christians  of 
every  denomination. 
Dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  when  and  where 
shall  this  work  begin  ?  Will  you  arrange  your 
worldly  business  in  accordance  with  it,  as  soon 
as  practicable,  and  let  nothing  interfere  with 
your  entire  consecration  to  him  who  bought 
you  with  his  blood  ?  Will  you  seek  the  Lord 
earnestly  in  the  closet,  and  set  your  houses  in 
order,  and  thus,  like  the  primitive  Christians 
in  that  upper  room,  come  together  daily  and 
"  continue  with  one  accord  in  prayer  and  sup- 
plication "  for  such  a  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
that  you  may  henceforth  enjoy  his  constant 
presence  with  you,  not  as  a  "wayfaring  man" 
who  comes  to  tarry  for  a  night  or  a  little  sea- 


126  THE     APPEAL. 

son,  but  to  take  up  a  permanent  abode  in  your 
hearts,  and  mould  your  whole  souls  into  the 
ima^e  of  Jesus,  and  employ  you  in  the  blessed 
work  of  a  constant  revival  of  religion  among 
you  —  a  revival  like  that  of  Pentecost,  when 
*'  aaily  in  the  temple  and  in  every  house,  they 
ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Lord  working  with  them,  and  adding  to 
the  Church  daily  such  as  should  be  saved." 
O,  how  soon  would  such  a  revival  bring  all 
your  unconverted  children  and  youth,  and  the 
perishing  multitude  around  you,  into  the  fold 
of  Christ !  How  rapidly,  like  that  at  Jerusa- 
lem, would  it  spread  over  all  the  region,  and 
encourage  other  churches,  and  still  others,  to 
arise  and  work  for  Christ  and  gather  the  spir- 
itual harvest  ?  How  greatly  would  such  a 
revival  enlarge  and  beautify  our  beloved  Zion  ? 
How  would  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord  be  seen 
upon  her !  "  and  thus  her  light  would  go  forth 
as  brightness,  and  shine  with  increasing  splen- 
dor, until  it  mingles  with  the  flood  of  glory 
which  shall  introduce  and  perpetuate  Messiah's 
triumphant  reign  on  earth. 


THE     APPEAL.  127 

Dearly  beloved,  shall  this  blessed  work  be- 
gin with  us?  Shall  it  begin  now?  The  Lord 
is  "  waiting  to  be  gracious."  Truly,  "  He  is 
long-suffering  to  usward  —  not  willing  that 
any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to 
repentance."  Now,  after  so  long  a  time,  he 
still  repeats  the  call  to  his  people,  and,  with 
moving  compassion  to  a  dying  world,  he  sounds 
it  long  and  loud  in  their  ears :  "  Bring  ye  all 
the  tithes  into  the  store-house,  and  prove  me 
now  herewith  if  I  will  not  open  the  windows 
of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out  a  blessing,  that 
there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive  it." 

Shall  such  a  blessing  be  your's  ?  It  is  infi- 
nitely rich.  It  cost  the  amazing  sacrifice  of 
Calvary !  It  is  proffered  freely,  and  urged  up- 
on your  acceptance.  Will  you  consent  to  re- 
ceive it  on  the  terms  proposed  ?  Or,  do  you 
dislike  the  terms,  and  choose  rather  to  slumber 
on,  and  still  longer  try  the  patience  of  God, 
and  grieve  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  hold  back  the 
blessing  from  a  dying  world !  and  thus  let 
other  generations,  and  even  your  own  children, 
go  down  to  darkness  and  swell  the  wailings  of 
the  lost ! ! 


128  THE     APPEAL. 

These  solemn  questions  we  must  soon  meet 
in  judgment.  Oh !  that  the  present  generation 
of  Christians  might  prepare  to  meet  them  with 
joy,  and  thus  unite  with  all  heaven  in  the  song 
of  triumph  over  a  renovated  world ! 


THE       END 


y  i 


